Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cumberland, Rhode Island 02864
Monday, September 1, 2008 8:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner/pilot departed in the single-engine airplane for the personal cross-country flight. He climbed to and set the power for a cruise altitude of 7,500 feet, and noted that his digital engine monitor indicated an engine speed of 2,300 rpm. Shortly thereafter, without any unusual noises or vibration, the engine speed decreased to 1,100 rpm, the manifold pressure appeared unchanged, and the airplane started to descend. The pilot exercised the propeller control to increase the rpm, but there was no response to his inputs. He declared an emergency, and attempted to divert to a nearby airport, but then elected to perform an off-airport landing in a field. During the rollout, the airplane struck bushes and trees that bordered the field. The pilot received minor injuries, and there was no fuel spill. Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the two inboard fuel tanks were full, the right outboard contained several gallons, and the left outboard tank contained only trace amounts of fuel. The fuel selector valve was reset to one of the main tanks; the engine started readily, and ran normally. Engine monitor data showed that during the flight, combustion had ceased, but the propeller continued to windmill during the 6 minutes of the descent. The pilot did not recognize the power loss, and misdiagnosed it as a propeller problem, and did not continue his trouble-shooting to positively identify and correct the underlying problem. In addition, the pilot's fuel management procedures were not in compliance with the procedures specified in the airplane manufacturer's operating manual. It stated that, "...If time permits," the pilot should manipulate the throttle and fuel selector in a continued attempt to restore engine power. Below that, a note stated "...If engine power was caused by fuel exhaustion, power will not be regained after tanks are switched until empty fuel lines are filled, which may require up to ten seconds...."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management practices, which resulted in fuel starvation and a complete power loss. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's misdiagnosis of the situation, and his cessation of trouble-shooting to positively identify and correct the underlying problem.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cumberland |
| Event State | RHODE ISLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02864 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415817N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0713343W |
| 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 | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26406 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2010 2:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5529J |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA299 |
| 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-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tri-Radial Flyers |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tiverton |
| Aircraft Owner State | RI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02878 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Tri-Radial Flyers |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tiverton |
| Operator State | RI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 02878 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVD |
| Departure City | Providence |
| Departure State | RI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SZF |
| Destination City | Cumberland |
| Destination State | RI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2010 2:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |