Piper PA-28-181 N3148Q

Summary

On 19 November 2009 at about 10:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N3148Q, operated by L and P of Winona Inc, was involved in an accident near Mineola, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 November 2009 at 10:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Mineola, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Wood County Airport (KJDD)

Coordinates

32.6604, -95.4796

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N3148Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

L and P of Winona Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Carl Folsom → Addison Aiport

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN10LA054

1 person was seriously injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot's inadequate preflight planning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the first leg of a night cross-country flight the pilot stopped (about 441 nautical miles from his departure airport) and filled the airplane with 46.27 gallons of fuel (fuel capacity, 48 gallons usable). The pilot then proceeded to his destination airport. While en route the pilot told air traffic control that he was "cutting this a little short" and needed to divert to a nearby airport (located about 485 nm from his previous refueling stop). During the descent to the airport, the pilot was unable to activate the landing lights at the airport (published out-of-service), so he changed his intended landing airport to another airport, located about 4 miles north. During the approach to that airport, the airplane collided with trees and impacted terrain just short of the runway. An on-site examination of the airplane revealed only a few ounces of fuel was in the left and right wing fuel tanks, and the engine gasolator was empty. A follow-up inspection of the airplane's engine and propeller indicated that the engine was not rotating at the time of impact with the terrain. The engine and airframe examination found no apparent abnormalities that would have prevented normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.