Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Central Jersey Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Manville, New Jersey 08805
Saturday, April 2, 2011 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he and his son departed on a flight to practice instrument approaches at three different airports. He said that the practice approaches that he completed were uneventful. On the return flight, with the son at the controls, on the base leg of the traffic pattern, the engine experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot said that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. He switched the fuel selector to the right tank, which he used during the practice approaches; however, an attempted restart was unsuccessful. He conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left fuel tank contained less than one pint of fuel, and the right fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper fuel management which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/2/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Manville |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08805 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403133N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0743429W |
| Event Location Airport | Central Jersey Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 47N |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 85 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 105 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.52 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28412 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2011 11:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2491K |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA225 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA38 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 112 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-79A0664 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 5 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3452 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas K Dempsey |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | New York |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10003 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thomas K Dempsey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | New York |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 10003 |
| 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 | VAY |
| Departure City | Mount Holly |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 47N |
| Destination City | Manville |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2011 10:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| 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 | -- |