Piper PA-31-350 N40790

Summary

On 13 December 1984 at about 00:52 local time, a Piper PA-31-350 registered N40790, operated by Southern Express Airways, Inc., was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

13 December 1984 at 00:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Miami Internationl (MIA)

Coordinates

25.8197, -80.3007

Aircraft

Piper PA-31-350

Registration

N40790

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Southern Express Airways, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Myers → Miami

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

MIA85FA058

1 person was seriously injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

PLT JUDGED BY REFERENCE TO ACFT GAGES THAT HE HAD 156 GALS OF FUEL REMAINING WHEN INFACT ONLY 120 GALS OF FUEL REMAINED.ON APPROACH FOR LNDG, WHILE OPERATING ON AUX TANKS, LOW FUEL FLOW WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. PLT SWITCHED TO MAIN TANKS AND BOTH ENGINES LOST POWER SHORTLY THEREAFTER WHILE ACFT WAS ON FINAL APPROACH. PLT DID NOT ATTEMPT TO REGAIN POWER BY SWITCHING BACK TO AUX TANKS SINCE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATION INITIATED DURING AUX TANK OPERATION. RIGHT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED, OTHER GEAR SEPARATED ON FORCED LANDING SHORT OF THE RUNWAY IN ROUGH TERRAIN. ACFT MANUAL STATES LOW FUEL FLOW WARNING LIGHTS INDICATE CONDITION OF MAIN TANKS ONLY. PLT DID NOT UNDERSTAND THIS TO BE TRUE REGARDLESS OF TANK SELECTION. INVESTIGATION REVEALED MAIN TANKS CONTAINED ONLY RESIDUAL FUEL; AUX TANKS HAD APPROX 6 GALS EACH.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.