Piper PA-28-151 N5695V

Summary

On 25 December 2005 at about 01:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-151 registered N5695V, operated by Christopher W. Casady, was involved in an accident near Emmett, Idaho, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 December 2005 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Emmett, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

43.8483, -116.5458

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-151

Registration

N5695V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Christopher W. Casady

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Joseph → Caldwell

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA06CA032

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of power. A factor was the fence post.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was descending through 6,500 feet mean sea level when the engine lost power. With the left fuel gage indicating 5 gallons and the right gage 6 gallons, the pilot was successful in restarting the engine, but only momentarily before it lost power a second time. Diverting to another airport, which the pilot believed was equipped with pilot controlled lighting, the pilot clicked his mike 7 times to illuminate the runway lights. However, ground fog in the area precluded him from locating the airport. After the pilot attempted a second restart of the engine, which was unsuccessful, he entered the fog but could see some ground reference with the aid of faint house lights in the area. The airplane subsequently touched down in a field with the left wing impacting a fence post and separating from the airplane. The aircraft came to rest on its right side after its left wing separated from the fuselage, and there was no postcrash fire. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed no fuel present in the right wing and 3.2 gallons of fuel in the left tank, of which 2.2 gallons was usable. The fuel selector was in the right tank position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.