Piper PA38 N193BA

Summary

On 9 June 2007 at about 21:00 local time, a Piper PA38 registered N193BA, operated by Doug Lundeen, was involved in an accident near Jacksonville, Florida, 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

9 June 2007 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Coordinates

30.2889, -81.3872

Aircraft

Piper PA38

Registration

N193BA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Doug Lundeen

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jacksonville → Jacksonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07LA138

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to perform adequate pre-flight fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in a loss of power due to fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed his home airport and flew to a nearby airport (a 10 minute flight), where he performed three touch-and-go landings. About 5 minutes into the return flight, the airplane's engine began to "cough and sputter," and then lost power. The pilot attempted, unsuccessfully, to restart the engine, and then performed a forced landing to a beach, during which the airplane was substantially damaged. The accident flight was the second flight since the pilot completed an annual inspection on the airplane. Prior to the annual inspection, the airplane was not flown for 14 years. The airplane was last refueled on the morning of the accident with 20 gallons of fuel, and was then flown for approximately 90 minutes, prior to the accident flight. Examination of the airplane revealed five gallons of fuel in the right fuel tank, and the left fuel tank was empty. No fuel was observed in the input line to the fuel pump, the output line from the fuel pump, or the gascolator. The airplane's fuel consumption was between 7 to 10 gallons per hour.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.