Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Taylor Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taylor, Texas 76574
Sunday, September 16, 2007 22:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 2,000-hour private pilot reported that his single-engine airplane lost power while at altitude of 8,000 feet MSL during a night VFR flight. As a precaution, the pilot elected to initiate the descent to his destination airport after successfully restarting the engine. While descending to the airport, the engine lost power a second time and the pilot elected to perform a gear-up forced landing to an open field 2 nautical miles north east of his intended destination. Additionally, the pilot noted that the right fuel gauge indicated one-fourth full and the left fuel gauge indicated an unknown low amount of fuel. The airplane sustained structural damage during the forced landing. The 3 occupants reported that they were able to egress from the airplane unassisted. Having flown this route multiple times, the pilot stated that he always landed with 45 minutes of fuel in reserve. The pilot added that the fuel gauges on his airplane were usually accurate and he was unaware of his low fuel condition until after the engine lost power the second time. The FAA investigators that responded to the accident site reported that both the left and right fuel tanks had been exhausted. Weather at the destination airport 5 minutes after the mishap was reported as calm winds, visibility 10 statute miles, with clear skies, temperature 23 degrees Celsius, dew point 18 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 30.08 inches of Mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as result of the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision. Contributing factors were the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing and the dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/16/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Taylor |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76574 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 303413N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0972621W |
| Event Location Airport | TAYLOR MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T74 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | T74 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KGTU 170335Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 24/18 A3008 RMK |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22650 |
| NTSB Notification Source | San Antonio, TX FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2007 6:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6017P |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA202 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-1112 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3830 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles D. & Heath E. Wiseman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6539 Newstead Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46217 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Charles D. Wiseman |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 549 Commercial Ave Apt #2 |
| Operator City | San Fransico |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94080 |
| 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 | 81N2 |
| Departure City | Greenwood |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Taylor |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2007 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |