Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Winchester Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winchester, Virginia 22601
Friday, August 7, 2009 17:43 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed on the local flight with an undetermined quantity of fuel. As the airplane neared the traffic pattern at the destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to restore engine power, and subsequently performed a forced landing. The airplane impacted a fence about 1,200 feet short of the runway threshold, which resulted in substantial damage. No fuel or evidence of fuel spillage was noted at the accident scene. The engine started immediately, ran continuously, and showed no evidence of any mechanical abnormalities during a postaccident test-run. Examination of fuel records revealed that the airplane was last fueled about one week prior the the accident and flew 4.2 flight hours prior to the loss of engine power. According to the airplane's Operating Handbook, the airplane contained two 25-gallon fuel tanks, 1 gallon of which was unusable in each tank. Fuel consumption calculations using data from the handbook revealed that at power settings between 55 and 75-percent power, and between best power and best economy fuel flow settings, the airplane would have an expected cruise endurance of between 4.8 and 5.6 hours. The calculation was for cruise endurance only, and did not take into account fuel burned during taxi, run-up, takeoff, climb, descent, or landing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to ensure an adequate quantity of fuel was available for the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1743 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Winchester |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22601 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 290836N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0780840W |
| Event Location Airport | Winchester Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OKV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 726 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1800 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 726 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26811 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 15 2010 2:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N20977 |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA456 |
| 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-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7916022 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Jun 9 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MOUNTAIN AIR AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5809 MIDHILL ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | BETHESDA |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20817-6138 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AV-ED Flight School Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 615 Airport Road, Suite 101 |
| Operator City | Winchester |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22602 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OKV |
| Departure City | Winchester |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | OKV |
| Destination City | Winchester |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2010 11:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |