Piper PA-28-181 N35681

Summary

On 13 January 2006 at about 21:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N35681 was involved in an accident near Brookings, Oregon, United States. 2 people were 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

13 January 2006 at 21:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Brookings, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

42.0764, -124.2747

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N35681

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Seattle → Redding

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA06LA044

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 engine power. Trees and no suitable terrain for the landing were factors.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had obtained a weather briefing prior to departure and noted headwinds for the route of flight. The pilot calculated fuel endurance via the pilot operating handbook for cruise flight and utilizing a 65% power setting. The intended route of flight was estimated to take four hours and 30 minutes. The pilot reported that the manual indicated that for this power setting, the aircraft was capable of five hours and 15 minutes with a 45 minute reserve. While en route, the headwind was higher than the pilot expected. The pilot opted to divert to the southwest in an attempt to increase the airspeed. An altitude increase by several thousand feet was necessary for terrain clearance. The airspeed did not increase and the pilot opted to divert to another airport for landing as the flight now approached four hours with an estimated 45 minutes to an hour to go. While en route to the alternate airport, the engine rpm started to decrease at about four hours and 25 minutes into the flight. The pilot reported the emergency to air traffic control and set-up for an off-airport landing. When the pilot broke out of the cloud layer, he noted that he would not make the airport and performed a landing to a creek. During the descent, the aircraft collided with trees before coming to rest in the creek bed. During the wreckage recovery, the wing fuel tanks were intact. Approximately three gallons for fuel were drained from the fuel system. The engine was later prepared for an engine run. The engine was started and ran with no anomalies noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.