Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wilkesboro, North Carolina 28697
Tuesady, June 20, 2006 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to witnesses at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Kissimmee, Florida, the pilot departed for Sandusky, Ohio, with a planned refueling stop in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The pilot topped off the fuel tanks before departing Kissimmee at 0830. While en route, the pilot reported to the Jacksonville Center, that he had a vacuum pump malfunction and elected to return to Kissimmee, and landed there at 0945. A mechanic removed and replaced the vacuum pump and the pilot departed again to continue his original trip at 1230. There was no record of the pilot adding fuel after he returned to Kissimmee. The flight proceeded uneventfully at 9,500 feet until 1555, when the pilot made a distress call saying he was out of fuel and descending. According to the FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) for the Piper PA-24-250, the airplane's total fuel capacity is 60 gallons, or 30 gallons in each wing tank with 4 gallons being unusable. According to witnesses the pilot topped the airplane off with fuel prior to his first flight on the day of the accident. The aircraft flew 1 hour and 15 minutes on its first leg, and 3 hours and 25 minutes on its second leg, for a total flight time of 4 hours and 40 minutes. According to the Piper Comanche Owner's Handbook Power Setting Table - Lycoming Model O-540-A, 250 HP Engine, at 75 percent of the engine's rated horse power the fuel consumption would be approximately 14.0 gallons of fuel per hour.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations and improper in-flight planning/decision which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, a forced landing, and collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wilkesboro |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28697 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361313N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0810532W |
| 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 | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HKY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1189 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22169 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO-05 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5626P |
| NTSB Number | ATL06LA094 |
| 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-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-696 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 5347 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wayne Lukash |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1601 Grandview Blvd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kissimmee |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34744 |
| 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 | ISM |
| Departure City | Kissimmee |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | UKF |
| Destination City | Wilkesboro |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2007 11:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |