Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brookings, Oregon 97415
Friday, January 13, 2006 13:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he had obtained a weather briefing prior to departure and noted headwinds for the route of flight. The pilot calculated fuel endurance via the pilot operating handbook for cruise flight and utilizing a 65% power setting. The intended route of flight was estimated to take four hours and 30 minutes. The pilot reported that the manual indicated that for this power setting, the aircraft was capable of five hours and 15 minutes with a 45 minute reserve. While en route, the headwind was higher than the pilot expected. The pilot opted to divert to the southwest in an attempt to increase the airspeed. An altitude increase by several thousand feet was necessary for terrain clearance. The airspeed did not increase and the pilot opted to divert to another airport for landing as the flight now approached four hours with an estimated 45 minutes to an hour to go. While en route to the alternate airport, the engine rpm started to decrease at about four hours and 25 minutes into the flight. The pilot reported the emergency to air traffic control and set-up for an off-airport landing. When the pilot broke out of the cloud layer, he noted that he would not make the airport and performed a landing to a creek. During the descent, the aircraft collided with trees before coming to rest in the creek bed. During the wreckage recovery, the wing fuel tanks were intact. Approximately three gallons for fuel were drained from the fuel system. The engine was later prepared for an engine run. The engine was started and ran with no anomalies noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power. Trees and no suitable terrain for the landing were factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/13/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1340 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Brookings |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97415 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 420435N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1241629W |
| 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 | 1356 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CEC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 57 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20239 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 13 2006 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 | Hillsboro, Oregon |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N35681 |
| NTSB Number | SEA06LA044 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| 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 | 28-8090192 |
| 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 | Nov 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2398 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Benjamin M. Sharp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90804 |
| 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 | BFI |
| Departure City | Seattle |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RDD |
| Destination City | Redding |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 1 2006 5:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |