Piper PA-25-235 N6745Z

Summary

On 23 January 2005 at about 23:06 local time, a Piper PA-25-235 registered N6745Z, operated by Great Western Soaring Co., was involved in an accident near Llano, California, United States. One person was 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

23 January 2005 at 23:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Llano, California, United States

Nearest airport

Crystal Airport (46CN)

Coordinates

34.4833, -117.8250

Aircraft

Piper PA-25-235

Registration

N6745Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Great Western Soaring Co.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Glider Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Llano → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA075

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to verify the amount of fuel onboard the airplane prior to departure, which resulted in loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following a loss of engine power, the airplane collided with a sign, crushing the left wing, while the pilot was performing a forced landing on a road. After departing, with a glider in tow, the pilot entered a climb in an effort to reach an adequate altitude for the glider to release from the line. Upon reaching 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the airplane's engine abruptly lost power. The glider released from the tow line and the pilot maneuvered the airplane towards a road. On the landing roll the left wing impacted a sign located on the side of the road, and the airplane ground looped. During a post-accident examination, investigators drained several ounces of fuel from gascolator, and the remaining fuel from the carburetor (less than a pint), noting no anomalies. The intact fuel tank contained no fuel and there was no evidence of in flight fuel leakage from the fuel strainer or tank. The engine started with no difficulties and preformed normally at several different power settings. The airplane had been flown 1.4 hours since the last refueling. According to the manufacturer, the engine consumes about 23 gallons of fuel per hour at maximum power of 2,575 revolutions per minute (rpm), and 19 gallons an hour at 2,500 rpm. The pilot thought that the airplane had an estimated 10 gallons of fuel on board prior to his last departure, but noted that the fuel gauge was unreliable. The accident flight lasted approximately 30 minutes, which would have resulted in the consumption of 9.5 gallons of fuel utilizing the 19-gallon/hour fuel consumption rate.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.