Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boynton Beach, Florida 33436
Saturday, October 27, 2007 20:12 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly before the end of a planned 2-hour night instructional instrument flight, at an altitude of about 1,000 feet above the ground, the airplane’s engine lost power. The certificated flight instructor directed the certificated private pilot to perform a forced landing to a golf course, but while on final approach the airplane impacted trees and cartwheeled. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right fuel tank was intact but empty. The left fuel tank was breached but contained approximately 6 gallons of fuel, and an accident site soil analysis indicated a fuel spill of approximately 20 to 30 gallons. The electric fuel pump switch was found in the “on” position and the fuel selector valve was found with right fuel tank selected. Performance data indicated that the flight would have consumed approximately 25 gallons, or about half of the total fuel on board when the airplane took off. The surviving passenger reported that after the loss of engine power, both pilots were concentrating on finding a suitable landing spot, which was difficult due to the darkness, rather than troubleshooting the loss of engine power. The pilot operating handbook states that any time fuel starvation is suspected during flight, the fuel selector should immediately be positioned to the other tank and the electric fuel pump switched to the “on” position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilots' improper in-flight fuel management.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/27/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2012 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boynton Beach |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33436 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 263041N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800616W |
| Event Location Airport | Palm Beach County Park Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 14 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26389 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2010 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8155C |
| NTSB Number | NYC08FA020 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| 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 | 28-8090236 |
| 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 | Oct 3 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 95 |
| Airframe Hours | 5200 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Day Trippin Airlines |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Olathe |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66022 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kemper Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2633 Lantana Road |
| Operator City | Lantana |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33462 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LNA |
| Departure City | West Palm Beach |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LNA |
| Destination City | Boynton Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2010 2:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |