Huntsville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Huntsville, Texas 77320
Friday, January 28, 2011 14:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot requested that the airplane be “topped off” with fuel before the flight. The person who refueled the airplane filled two of the four tanks with 9 gallons of fuel total, and the pilot said he visually checked that all four tanks were full during his preflight inspection. The pilot reported that after flying about 1 hour, the “engine started surging due to a lack of fuel” and quit. He made several attempts to restart the engine “by switching from all of the rest of [his] full tanks” but was unable to restart the engine and performed a forced landing to a dirt road. During the landing, the left main gear collapsed and the left wing spar sustained substantial damage. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed both main tanks were empty and the two auxiliary tanks were full. There was no evidence of any fuel leaks at the scene. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the airplane auxiliary tanks only being fueled and the pilot departing with insufficient fuel in the main tanks, resulting in an engine failure due to fuel starvation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection to ensure the main tanks were full, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/28/2011
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Huntsville
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77320
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 305410N
Event Location Longitude 0952616W
Event Location Airport Huntsville Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID UTS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 12
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 363
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1353 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 218
Weather Observation Facility ID KUTS
Elevation of weather observation facility 363
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 31295
NTSB Notification Source FAA ASW Regional Operations Ce
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 9 2013 9:05AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8023P
NTSB Number CEN11LA162
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 PA24
Aircraft Series Identifier 250
Aircraft Serial Number 24-3267
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 30 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5149
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name CLAY KROSCHEL
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City HUNTSVILLE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77340-6553
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name CLAY KROSCHEL
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City HUNTSVILLE
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77340-6553
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 00R
Departure City Livingston Airp
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1339
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code UTS
Destination City Huntsville
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 14 2012 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record bakd
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 --