Piper PA-31P N57EF

Summary

On 20 August 2004 at about 17:34 local time, a Piper PA-31P registered N57EF was involved in an accident near Clarkson, New York, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 August 2004 at 17:34

Classification

Accident

Location

Clarkson, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Ledgedale Airpark (7G0)

Coordinates

43.2514, -77.8689

Aircraft

Piper PA-31P

Registration

N57EF

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Batavia → Rochester

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD04FA040

1 person died.

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel by his failure to select the proper fuel tank which resulted in starvation and subsequent loss of engine power in both engines.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed from a maintenance facility, after installation of the right engine, with an unknown quantity of fuel. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported that he had "lost" an engine. He requested vectors for the departure airport, then amended his request to an alternate destination. From the original distress call to the last recorded radar target, approximately 2 ½ minutes, the airplane descended from 2,500 feet to 700 feet and slowed from 190 knots to about 87 knots. Several witnesses described the engine sound as "rough", and "cutting in and out" before the airplane descended out of view and sounds of impact were heard. The left wing was consumed by post-crash fire. Forty gallons of fuel were drained from the right inboard and nacelle tanks. Only trace amounts of fuel were visible in the right outboard tank. Both fuel selectors were found in the outboard tank position. Examination of flight times and ground-maintenance run times revealed that the engines were run for approximately 3 hours with the outboard tanks selected. The outboard tanks each held 40 gallons, for a total of 80 gallons. According to the pilot's operating manual, the fuel consumption rate at the maximum endurance power setting was 28 gallons per hour.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.