Piper PA-28-161 N81917

Summary

On 26 July 2011 at about 08:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N81917, operated by Wings of Carolina Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Quinton, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and 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

26 July 2011 at 08:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Quinton, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Richmond International Airport (RIC)

Coordinates

37.5461, -77.2147

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N81917

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wings of Carolina Flying Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chatham → Richmond

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA11CA423

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and fuel management, 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

Originally the pilot was going to depart earlier on the day of the accident and had planned to stop enroute to his destination for more fuel. After receiving a weather briefing, he decided to delay his departure until later that evening due to the possibility of thunderstorms being present in the vicinity of his destination airport at his planned time of arrival. Prior to departure that evening, he had the fuel tanks filled to capacity. During the flight, and despite his previous flight planning, he did not stop for more fuel. When he was approximately 64 miles from his destination, the pilot noticed that his fuel gauges were indicating that he had less fuel than he anticipated. Upon arrival at his destination, he flew an instrument approach and advised the air traffic controller that he was low on fuel. Due to the visibility, he was unable to see the runway environment and executed a missed approach. He was then instructed by the air traffic controller to climb to 2,000 feet mean sea level (msl). During the climb, the engine lost power and the airplane began to descend, but the pilot was able to restart the engine. He then began climbing back up to 2,000 feet msl; however, the engine lost power again. The airplane once again began to descend, but this time the pilot was unable to restart the engine. The airplane then struck trees and came to rest after falling approximately 20 feet to the ground. Total duration of the flight was approximately 4 hours and 43 minutes. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the firewall and left wing were substantially damaged and both fuel tanks were absent of fuel. There was no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction of the airplane or engine. Correlation of radar and weather data revealed that the pilot would have encountered a headwind for the majority of the flight. When asked by a state trooper how the accident occurred, the pilot advised him that he had run out of fuel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.