Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044-8912
Sunday, October 16, 2011 15:38 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was fueled to capacity and flew for 3 hours and 15 minutes to its destination, where it was not refueled. Two days later, the airplane flew for 3 additional hours. During that flight, a passenger said that he heard the pilot say that they were low on fuel. Shortly thereafter, the engine lost power and the airplane collided with power lines and impacted a storage shed in a residential area. The airplane was equipped with two 25-gallon fuel tanks (50 gallons total, of which 48 gallons were useable). The airplane had been aloft for about 6 hours, 13 minutes. Depending on the power setting, the airplane would have burned between 38 and 52 gallons for the two flights.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/16/2011
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1538
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Guthrie
Event State OKLAHOMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 73044-8912
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355225N
Event Location Longitude 0972305W
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 1553 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID KGOK
Elevation of weather observation facility 1069
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
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) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KGOK 161953Z AUTO 28010KT 10SM CLR 32/11 A29
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 29853
NTSB Notification Source FAA ASW 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 1 2012 9:58AM
User who most recently changed record scoa
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6085W
NTSB Number CEN12FA021
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-28-140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-20099
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 2
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 Apr 2 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 3553
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Darrell A. Smittle
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1813 Ridgecrest Rd.
Aircraft Owner City Edmond
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 73013-6658
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Darrell A. Smittle
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Edmond
Operator State OK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 73013-6658
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 K3M0
Departure City Lakeview
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KGOK
Destination City Guthrie
Destination State OK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 1 2012 12:07PM
User who most recently changed record scoa
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 --