Pilot Country Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Brooksville, Florida 34610
Sunday, October 25, 2009 14:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was 10 minutes into the flight and had just reached a cruise altitude of 2,800 feet above mean sea level when the engine lost power. After unsuccessfully attempting to restart the engine, the pilot attempted a forced landing at an airport off to his left. Approaching the airport, the airplane’s right wing hit a tree and the airplane impacted the ground 400 yards short of the runway. The airplane sustained damage to the wing, fuselage, and propeller. The responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector observed 1/4 gallon of fuel in the right wing fuel tank and no fuel in the left wing tank. There was no evidence of fuel leakage in flight or at the accident site. The wreckage recovery crew reported that they were able to drain 3 quarts of fuel from the airplane. A postaccident engine run was conducted with the engine producing power at high and low rpm settings.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/25/2009
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1410
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Brooksville
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34610
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 281949N
Event Location Longitude 0822947W
Event Location Airport Pilot Country Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID X05
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 80
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1353 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 195
Weather Observation Facility ID KBKV
Elevation of weather observation facility 76
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 9
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
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) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27396
NTSB Notification Source SROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 6 2010 8:10PM
User who most recently changed record coxp
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7220W
NTSB Number ERA10LA031
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 PA28
Aircraft Series Identifier 180
Aircraft Serial Number 28-I035
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Sep 22 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 22
Airframe Hours 2913
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91
Aircraft Owner Name AJM National Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Arthur Michaud
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City New Port Richey
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 34654
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 FA40
Departure City New Port Richey
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1355
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ZPH
Destination City Zephyrhills
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 18 2010 6:13PM
User who most recently changed record obrj
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 --