Piper PA-38-112 N2572N

Summary

On 15 January 2000 at about 04:03 local time, a Piper PA-38-112 registered N2572N was involved in an accident near Kernville, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 January 2000 at 04:03

Classification

Accident

Location

Kernville, California, United States

Coordinates

35.7309, -118.3907

Aircraft

Piper PA-38-112

Registration

N2572N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Trona → Fresno

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX00LA075

Nobody was injured.

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's in-flight decision to not refuel the airplane at an en route stop as planned.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During preflight planning, the pilot realized he would need an en route fuel stop due to forecast headwinds. About 45 minutes into the flight, his passenger became agitated and he diverted to an alternate airport in his flight path, which was about 25 miles from his planned fuel stop, to take care of the passenger's concerns. He found that there were no fuel services available at this airport, and in recalculating his flight plan, estimated that he had enough fuel to continue the flight to the destination airport without stopping to refuel at his planned en route fuel stop. He stated that after takeoff from the alternate airport it was becoming dark and he was a stressed out due to mountainous terrain on his flight path, as well as his passenger's discomfort. Approximately 5 miles southeast of the accident airport the pilot informed air traffic control that he was low on fuel. He was provided vectors to the accident airport, which did not have a lighted field. After descending to a lower altitude to locate the airport the engine quit. He switched tanks, and the engine restarted. Approximately 15 seconds later the engine quit again. He saw two cars on a road and landed in-between them. The right wing collided with a road sign during the landing rollout. The fuel tanks were inspected and found to contain residual fuel, with no evidence of leakage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.