Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53207
Saturday, November 12, 2005 18:20 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it impacted power lines at night during an emergency descent after a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that he departed on the flight in order to keep current at night flying and to practice night takeoffs and landings. He reported that rain was forecast for later that night, but that the sky was clear and "bumpy" after departure. He ran into light rain and decided to return to the departure airport before the weather got any worse. He reported that the engine quit and he executed a forced landing to a "desolate street," but impacted wires. The airplane remained tangled in the power line wires, and emergency personnel removed the pilot from the suspended airplane about 2 hours later. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the left fuel tank contained no fuel, and that fuel "poured" out of the right fuel tank when it was drained of fuel. The fuel tanks were not compromised, and there were no fuel leaks from either tank. The fuel selector was selected to the left fuel tank. The flight duration was about 2.3 hours. The pilot's blood was tested for the presence of alcohols. The blood ethanol concentration was 0.286 grams per 100 milliliters. The FAA FAR Part 91.17 legal limit is 0.04. The pilot's FAA medical records revealed that the pilot had a history of alcohol-related traffic offenses since at least 20 years of age (17 years prior to the accident). The manager of the FAA Aerospace Medical Certification Division sent a letter to the pilot on June 26, 2002, which noted, "Our review of your medical records has established that you are eligible for a second-class medical certificate. ... Continued airman medical certification remains contingent upon your total abstinence from use of alcohol. ..." There is no indication of any additional requirement for evaluation or follow up. The pilot's most recent Application for 2nd Class Medical Certificate, dated April 21, 2005 indicated "no" in response to "HAVE YOU EVER IN YOUR LIFE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH, HAD, OR DO YOU PRESENTLY HAVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ... Alcohol dependence or abuse." The pilot held a current second class medical certificate dated April 21, 2005.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's fuel mismanagement. Factors to the accident included the pilot's impairment due to alcohol, the FAA's inadequate oversight when it issued the pilot a second class medical certificate, the power lines, and night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1820 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Milwaukee |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53207 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425650N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875347W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1752 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 723 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 24 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.7 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20567 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 12 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2241P |
| NTSB Number | CHI06LA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7990294 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 230 |
| Airframe Hours | 4631 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Westosha Flying Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 327 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmont |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53192 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5K6 |
| Departure City | Westosha |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 24 2006 10:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |