Piper PA-18A-150 N8680D

Summary

On 8 June 2005 at about 19:15 local time, a Piper PA-18A-150 registered N8680D was involved in an accident near Griffin, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

8 June 2005 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Griffin, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

33.2331, -84.2806

Aircraft

Piper PA-18A-150

Registration

N8680D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Griffin → Griffin

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL05CA096

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply which resulted in fuel starvation. A contributing factor was the pilot's inadequate preflight preparation which failed to verify the fuel amount.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the preflight inspection of the airplane, the pilots believed that the left tank was full and the right tank showed one-half full as seen through the wing tank sight gauges. The cockpit fuel selector was positioned on the left fuel tank. After taxiing to the departure runway, the pilots completed an engine run-up and magneto check, and departed to the north. As the flight climbed to approximately 200 feet, the engine lost power and quit. When the pilot turned back to the runway, the right wing collided with a tree, and subsequently the ground. During the post-accident examination of the airplane, approximately two quarts of fuel were recovered from the left fuel tank and about 7 gallons of fuel were recovered from the right fuel tank. Examination of the cockpit found the fuel selector on the left fuel tank. During the functional check of the engine, the engine started and functioned without difficulty and idled for several minutes without any discrepancies noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.