Piper PA-38-112 N2466D

Summary

On 7 December 2011 at about 00:30 local time, a Piper PA-38-112 registered N2466D, operated by Mazzei Flying Service, was involved in an accident near Davis, California, 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

7 December 2011 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Davis, California, United States

Nearest airport

Yolo County (DWA)

Coordinates

38.5792, -121.8569

Aircraft

Piper PA-38-112

Registration

N2466D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Mazzei Flying Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sacramento → Davis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12LA055

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before beginning the cross-country flight, the pilot did not fill the fuel tanks to capacity due to weight and balance concerns and estimated the amount of fuel onboard. While on final approach, the engine lost power. Following the loss of engine power, the pilot switched fuel tanks, but he could not recall which fuel tank the fuel selector was positioned to before the power loss. The pilot landed the airplane in a field short of the runway, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. When the airplane came to rest, the pilot positioned the fuel selector to the "off" position. Postaccident examination revealed that fuel was present in the left wing tank; however, no fuel was identified in the right wing tank. The engine was test run with no operational anomalies identified. Although the position of the fuel selector when the power loss occurred could not be determined, it is likely that it was positioned to the right fuel tank. In this position, the engine would have been unable to access fuel from the left fuel tank.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.