Piper PA-23-250 N75JF

Summary

On 23 June 2006 at about 17:12 local time, a Piper PA-23-250 registered N75JF was involved in an accident near Borinquen, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 June 2006 at 17:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Borinquen, United States

Coordinates

18.2210, -66.5901

Aircraft

Piper PA-23-250

Registration

N75JF

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ft. Lauderdale → St. Thomas

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC06LA078

1 person had minor injuries.

Fuel starvation/exhaustion for an undetermined reason during cruise flight, which resulted in a complete loss of engine power to both engines and a ditching in the ocean.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport certificated pilot purchased the twin engine airplane about two days before the flight. He indicated that the airplane had a fuel capacity of 192 gallons, and had an endurance of 7.5 to 8 hours. He departed on a Title 14, CFR Part 91 cross-country flight for an airport that was about 908 miles away. The airplane was equipped with auxiliary wingtip fuel tanks, and the pilot said the airplane consumed about 23 gallons of fuel per hour. Five hours and 12 minutes after takeoff, after consuming an estimated 122 gallons, the pilot said that the main fuel tanks were dry, and he was trying to draw fuel from the auxiliary tanks without success. He said the fuel gauges for the auxiliary tanks were indicating 1/4 full, but both engines were surging. He stated that there still should have been about 50 gallons of fuel in the airplane's wingtip tanks, and he tried every fuel tank and cross-feed combination, but the engines lost power, and he ditched the airplane about 829 miles from his departure point. The airplane sank in deep water, and was not recovered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.