Piper PA-28-140 N6085W

Summary

On 16 October 2011 at about 20:38 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N6085W, operated by Darrell A. Smittle, was involved in an accident near Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 October 2011 at 20:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States

Coordinates

35.8736, -97.3847

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N6085W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Darrell A. Smittle

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lakeview → Guthrie

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN12FA021

1 person died.

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was fueled to capacity and flew for 3 hours and 15 minutes to its destination, where it was not refueled. Two days later, the airplane flew for 3 additional hours. During that flight, a passenger said that he heard the pilot say that they were low on fuel. Shortly thereafter, the engine lost power and the airplane collided with power lines and impacted a storage shed in a residential area. The airplane was equipped with two 25-gallon fuel tanks (50 gallons total, of which 48 gallons were useable). The airplane had been aloft for about 6 hours, 13 minutes. Depending on the power setting, the airplane would have burned between 38 and 52 gallons for the two flights.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.