Piper PA-28-151 N75148

Summary

On 26 April 2013 at about 21:42 local time, a Piper PA-28-151 registered N75148 was involved in an accident near Daytona Beach, Florida, 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

26 April 2013 at 21:42

Classification

Accident

Location

Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Spruce Creek Airport (7FL6)

Coordinates

29.0803, -81.0464

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-151

Registration

N75148

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Daytona Beach → Titusville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA220

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power during initial climb for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examinations did not reveal any preimpact failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After completing an annual inspection of the airplane, the student pilot completed a preflight inspection and notified his flight instructor that he was going to depart. He reported that, while taxiing toward the runway, the engine stalled. He then "shut everything down" and spoke to a mechanic about what had just happened. The mechanic advised him that the fuel selector was in the "OFF" position. The student pilot then moved the fuel selector to the left-tank position. The student pilot then restarted the airplane, taxied onto the runway, and took off. About 300 feet above ground level, the engine "sputtered." The pilot then leveled off the airplane and the engine restarted, but it lost power again. He then radioed that he was going to make an emergency landing, maintained the best glide speed, and tried to reland on the runway, but he missed the runway due to a "gust of wind" that pushed the airplane right. The pilot then lowered the nose to avoid trees and houses beyond the end of the runway. The airplane touched down right of the runway centerline, skipped once, and then slid to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Data recorded by the airplane's onboard engine data monitoring system were consistent with a loss of engine power after takeoff, the power returning, and then a second loss of engine power. A postaccident engine test run did not reveal any preimpact failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. Fuel was found in both fuel tanks. The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive to the accumulation of carburetor ice.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.