Piper PA-25-235 N7220Z

Summary

On 5 June 2005 at about 18:30 local time, a Piper PA-25-235 registered N7220Z was involved in an accident near Waller, Texas, 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

5 June 2005 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Waller, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.1925, -95.9631

Aircraft

Piper PA-25-235

Registration

N7220Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Glider Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Waller → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW05CA146

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed resulting in fuel exhaustion and a stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 563-hour private pilot completed 11 glider tows prior to the accident. Prior to the twelfth flight, he determined that he had enough fuel to complete one or two more flights, based on the how the fuel gauge needle was fluctuating in the cockpit. The pilot departed on his twelfth flight, and towed a glider to 3,000 feet mean sea level (msl) about three miles west of the glider port. After releasing the glider, he turned east toward the glider port. When the airplane was approximately two miles from the glider port, the engine stopped producing power. The pilot entered a left downwind, and when he arrived at the north end of the glider port he felt he was too high and initiated a right 360-degree turn to lose altitude. However, the pilot said that his airspeed and altitude deteriorated quickly and he either "stalled the plane or entered an incipient spin." The pilot recovered near ground level and subsequently struck a tree with the left wing, which spun the airplane around before it came to rest. Examination of the fuel system revealed there was no fuel onboard the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.