Piper PA-28-180 N9020J

Summary

On 27 November 2002 at about 22:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N9020J, operated by Kevin Lebaron, was involved in an accident near Vernal, Utah, United States. 4 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 November 2002 at 22:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Vernal, Utah, United States

Coordinates

40.3575, -109.6206

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N9020J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Kevin Lebaron

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Laramie → Provo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03LA021

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision. Factors contributing to the accident were fuel exhaustion and the fog.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot took off for his destination airport after waiting 2 hours at an intermediate stop due to weather. Approaching Vernal, Utah, the pilot said he encountered weather again. He deviated south and then back north trying to locate a path around the weather. He said he burned an hour's worth of fuel during the deviation. The pilot said he looked at his fuel and determined that he would need to land and get gas. The pilot said there was a layer of fog over the valley and over Vernal Airport. The pilot deviated first to Shane, Utah, then went to Roosevelt, Utah, and then back northeast toward Vernal. At that time he noted he had 7 gallons of fuel remaining. As the pilot was preparing to land at Vernal, the airplane ran out of gas on one tank. Approximately 4 miles southwest of the Vernal Airport, the pilot said he ran out of gas on the other tank. The pilot said he came out of the clouds 400 feet above a highway. He said there was mountainous terrain all around him. The pilot said he saw a plateau ahead. He said he pulled the airplane up and put it down on the plateau, breaking the landing gear aft and crushing the firewall and bottom fuselage upward and aft. An examination of the airplane revealed there was no fuel in either fuel tank. An examination of the engine and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.