Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elgin, South Carolina 29045
Friday, March 25, 2011 13:52 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was on a cross-country flight and no flight plan was filed. While en route, a witness observed an airplane flying at a slow airspeed between 200 and 300 feet above the ground behind his place of business. The engine was revving up and down as if it was running out of fuel. The witness observed the nose pitch up to an attitude between 35 and 40 degrees, and then the nose pitched straight down. The airplane went below the tree line, then there was an explosion and a postcrash fire.
Examination of the crash site revealed no anomalies with the airframe, engine assembly, or accessories. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right main fuel tank. The right main fuel tank had ruptured and was absent of fuel.
The airplane has two 18-gallon fuel tanks with a total capacity of 36 gallons. The cruise airspeed for the airplane is 126 mph. The straight-line distance from the departure airport to the crash site is 607 miles. According to the engine-operating manual, the engine will burn 7.2 gallons of fuel per hour at 75-percent power and 6.3 gallons of fuel per hour at 65-percent power. In a no wind condition at 75-percent power, it would take 4 hours and 50 minutes to fly from the departure airport to the accident site; at 65-percent power it would take 5 hours and 33 minutes to fly to the accident site. Based on a straight line, no wind, and non-maneuvering flight profile, available fuel range would be about 523 nautical miles. These calculations do not account for fuel consumed during the start, taxi, and take off sequence. Thus, the pilot exceeded the fuel endurance, and the engine lost power. Also, the high-pitch attitude of the airplane observed by the witness could have resulted in the stall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion resulting from the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning. Contributing to the accident was that the pilot did not maintain an adequate airspeed, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/25/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1352 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elgin |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29045 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340838N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804544W |
| 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 | 1315 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 85 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 302 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29530 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2012 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7746K |
| NTSB Number | ERA11FA210 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20-569 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1738 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| 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 8 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1743 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BUERGEL WOLFGANG |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | EAST AURORA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14052-9519 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BUERGEL WOLFGANG |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | EAST AURORA |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 14052-9519 |
| 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 | 92NY |
| Departure City | Bloecher Farm |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAL |
| Destination City | Lakeland |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2012 12:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |