Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Richmond International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Quinton, Virginia 23250
Tuesady, July 26, 2011 4:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Originally the pilot was going to depart earlier on the day of the accident and had planned to stop enroute to his destination for more fuel. After receiving a weather briefing, he decided to delay his departure until later that evening due to the possibility of thunderstorms being present in the vicinity of his destination airport at his planned time of arrival. Prior to departure that evening, he had the fuel tanks filled to capacity. During the flight, and despite his previous flight planning, he did not stop for more fuel. When he was approximately 64 miles from his destination, the pilot noticed that his fuel gauges were indicating that he had less fuel than he anticipated. Upon arrival at his destination, he flew an instrument approach and advised the air traffic controller that he was low on fuel. Due to the visibility, he was unable to see the runway environment and executed a missed approach. He was then instructed by the air traffic controller to climb to 2,000 feet mean sea level (msl). During the climb, the engine lost power and the airplane began to descend, but the pilot was able to restart the engine. He then began climbing back up to 2,000 feet msl; however, the engine lost power again. The airplane once again began to descend, but this time the pilot was unable to restart the engine. The airplane then struck trees and came to rest after falling approximately 20 feet to the ground. Total duration of the flight was approximately 4 hours and 43 minutes.
Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall and left wing were substantially damaged and both fuel tanks were absent of fuel. There was no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction of the airplane or engine. Correlation of radar and weather data revealed that the pilot would have encountered a headwind for the majority of the flight. When asked by a state trooper how the accident occurred, the pilot advised him that he had run out of fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 415 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Quinton |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23250 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373246N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0771253W |
| Event Location Airport | Richmond International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RIC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 167 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 445 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 167 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28977 |
| 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 | Sep 27 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81917 |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA423 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8216139 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Jul 9 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 13107 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FCS AVIATION LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4109 KETTERING DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | DURHAM |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27713-8034 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Wings of Carolina Flying Club |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Sanford |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 27330 |
| 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 | CQX |
| Departure City | Chatham |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2338 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RIC |
| Destination City | Richmond |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2011 3:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 5326 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |