Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dingman, Pennsylvania 18377
Monday, May 18, 2009 17:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying back to his home airport when the "engine sounded like it was out of fuel," and the "propeller just stopped." The pilot then began performing the emergency checklist, switching fuel tanks, and looking for a place to land. The only suitable forced landing area was beyond glide range, and the airplane impacted trees just short of the pilot’s intended touchdown point. The airplane came to rest upright in the tops of the trees, substantially damaging the wing spar. The pilot reported that "there was no abnormal sound" from the engine prior to stopping. After the airplane was recovered from the tree tops, approximately 6 ounces of fuel was drained from the engine, and the Federal Aviation Administration inspector on scene found both fuel tanks empty. No other anomalies with either the engine or airframe were identified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate fuel planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/18/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Dingman |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18377 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411830N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745628W |
| 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 | 1754 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 273 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 962 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| 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) | 25719 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2009 10:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4130W |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA296 |
| 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-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2843204 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2558 |
| 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 | Mar 12 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 5140 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert J. Stephanoff |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Piscataway |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08854 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Robert J. Stephanoff |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Piscataway |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08854 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NK68 |
| Departure City | Hancock |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SMQ |
| Destination City | Somerville |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2009 10:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |