Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Elmo, Minnesota 55082
Saturday, December 18, 2010 17:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About an hour after takeoff the airplane was in cruise flight at 16,500 feet mean sea level (msl) when the pilot heard a loud noise followed by a rapid cabin depressurization. The pilot rapidly descended to 10,500 feet msl. The pressurization stabilized and he continued to his destination airport. About 3 hours and 25 minutes after takeoff, the airplane was approaching the destination airport and was about 1,500 feet above ground level when the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine by putting the mixture, propeller, and throttle controls full forward. He turned on the emergency fuel pump and engaged the starter button, but the engine did not start. The pilot executed a forced landing at night to a field that had about 2 - 2.5 feet of snow in it. During the landing roll, the left wing separated from the fuselage. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the right wing fuel tank was empty. The left wing fuel tank was intact and appeared to be full of fuel. The fuel selector was found on the left tank. The pilot reported that he was certain that he had switched tanks sometime during the climb, but was not certain if he had switched tanks after that. The pilot reported that the loss of engine power was the result of fuel starvation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the distraction of the cabin depressurization.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1705 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Lake Elmo |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55082 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 445951N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0925120W |
| 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 | 1655 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ANE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 912 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 182255Z 24006KT 10SM SCT070 OVC090 M09/M12 A2992 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28506 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 19 2011 12:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | rows |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N92358 |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA117 |
| 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-46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4622147 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4318 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 25 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1754 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Guardian Eagle Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 296 Carl St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lino Lakes |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55014 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Richard Davidson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lino Lakes |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55014 |
| 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 | BWG |
| Departure City | Bowling Green |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1340 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ANE |
| Destination City | Anoka |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2011 5:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| 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 | -- |