Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Braunfels, Texas 78130
Friday, May 2, 2014 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot with three passengers planned to depart and return on a cross-country flight. The pilot stated that the airplane's left fuel tank was filled to an inch below the collar, and the right fuel tank was filled to two inches below the collar. He estimated that the airplane had 40-45 gallons of fuel on board, with a planned en route time of 57 minutes, and about a 10 knot tailwind. Once at a cruise altitude of 7,500 feet, he set the manifold pressure at 21 inches and engine rpm at 2,300 for a fuel burn of 12.3 gallons/hr per the pilot operating handbook. The pilot reported for the return leg he again visually checked the fuel level in each tank. He estimated 12-15 gallons in the left tank and 10 in the right, for a total of 22-25 gallons. The pilot added that fuel burn seemed normal and he decided not to add fuel, he also stated that estimations are not an accurate science and that a fuel stick was not provided to confirm the fuel level. After departing for the return flight, he switched fuel tanks from the left side to the right side. About 15 minutes later, the pilot noticed a reduction in power and switched back to the left side fuel tank. Engine power was restored, and the pilot stated that he did not feel that the fuel had been exhausted from the right side based on his calculations. A few minutes later, the engine lost power and the pilot preformed a forced landing to a construction site. A post-crash examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the airplane's fuselage and left wing during the forced landing. Additionally, the fuel tanks were empty and were not breached in the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and inflight decision making.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/2/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | New Braunfels |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78130 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294218N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0980726W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1751 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBAZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBAZ 022251Z 29005KT 10SM BKN110 27/M01 A299 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32744 |
| NTSB Notification Source | 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 13 2014 11:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7308P |
| NTSB Number | CEN14CA227 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-2483 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2899 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ANDERSON THOMAS DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BULVERDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 781631701 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Anderson Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BULVERDE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 781631701 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KDWH |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1658 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1T8 |
| Destination City | Bulverde |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 12 2014 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |