Piper J5A N40985

Summary

On 22 June 2012 at about 21:05 local time, a Piper J5A registered N40985, operated by Edward P. Bulger, was involved in an accident near Atlantic Ocean, 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

22 June 2012 at 21:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlantic Ocean, United States

Nearest airport

None

Coordinates

37.6350, -72.8612

Aircraft

Piper J5A

Registration

N40985

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Edward P. Bulger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Beverly → Beverly

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA410

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because the aircraft sank after ditching and was not recovered.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot filled the airplane’s fuel tanks before departing on the over-ocean aerial observation flight. About 5.8 hours into the flight, while the pilot was returning to the departure airport, the engine began losing power. The pilot attempted to restore engine power using carburetor heat and the engine primer but was unsuccessful, so he ditched the airplane in the ocean about 21 miles from the destination airport. The airplane subsequently sank and was not recovered; therefore, no postaccident examination of the engine or airframe could be conducted. Although no information was available regarding the dew point conditions near the accident site, according to a Federal Aviation Administration carburetor icing probability chart, the temperature and dew point at the destination airport were conducive to the formation of carburetor ice at cruise/glide power settings. Postaccident fuel consumption calculations based on information published by the engine manufacturer showed that the airplane had a potential fuel endurance of between 3.8 and 7.1 hours depending on power setting, with an average endurance of 4.8 hours. The pilot estimated that the airplane contained about 5 gallons of fuel when the engine lost power. Because the airplane sank, the investigation was not able to conclusively determine the reason for the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.