Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenwood Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Milford, New Jersey 07480
Saturday, April 3, 2010 12:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had remained outside and unused for several years before it was purchased by two co-owners, through an individual acting as an aircraft broker, about 4 weeks prior the accident. One co-owner held a private pilot certificate, and the other held a student pilot certificate; neither held an aircraft mechanic's certificate. About 2 weeks after the purchase, the co-owners and a mechanic drove to the airport to examine the airplane, with the reported intent to fly it about 75 miles back to the home airport of the pilot-rated co-owner. Some maintenance activity and a brief test flight were conducted, but mechanical and weather difficulties prevented the relocation of the airplane that day. The following week the three returned to the airplane, and the pilot and mechanic flew it to the pilot's home airport. The next week, the pilot flew the airplane to the student pilot's home airport, and the two then departed, with the student pilot in the left seat. It could not be determined what roles or actions were conducted by either of the individuals during the flight. That flight ended several minutes later, when the airplane impacted a wooded area in a residential neighborhood.
First responders noticed a slight odor of fuel; one fuel tank was breached and contained no fuel, and the other, intact tank contained only a trace amount of fuel. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel strainer contained cloudy fuel contaminated by water and other unidentified contaminants and that the carburetor accelerator pump gasket was deformed. The general overall appearance of the airplane was consistent with it not being well-maintained, but no evidence of any preimpact airframe discrepancies that would have precluded normal flight was observed. The only fuel purchase that could positively be associated with the airplane indicated that 17 gallons were added on the day of the test flight, 2 weeks before the accident. Calculations that used the manufacturer's fuel consumption rates indicated that the total fuel consumption for the period between that last verified fueling and the accident flight ranged from a low of 13 gallons to a high of 32 gallons. The manufacturer specified a total usable fuel quantity of 39 gallons, but the total fuel on board after the last verified fueling could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The complete loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/3/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1205 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Milford |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07480 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410601N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0742212W |
| Event Location Airport | Greenwood Lake |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4N1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 791 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FWN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 800 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | New Jersey State Police |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 9 2011 11:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5528T |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA202 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251428 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Dec 15 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 2416 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arthur Leidenfrost |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Park ridge |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07656 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Arthur Leidenfrost |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Park Ridge |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07656 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 4N1 |
| Departure City | West Milford |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | N07 |
| Destination City | Lincoln Park |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 21 2011 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |