Piper PA 32-301 N8169C

Summary

On 18 December 2013 at about 23:15 local time, a Piper PA 32-301 registered N8169C was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 2 people were 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

18 December 2013 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Los Angeles, California, United States

Nearest airport

Whiteman (WHP)

Coordinates

34.2592, -118.4133

Aircraft

Piper PA 32-301

Registration

N8169C

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Los Angeles → Los Angeles

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14LA071

Nobody was injured.

The total loss of engine power during takeoff due to fuel starvation, which resulted from the pilot’s failure to adequately manage the fuel supply.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, during the preflight inspection, he noted that the fuel gauges located on the wing tanks indicated that each tank contained about 12 gallons of fuel. After performing a run-up inspection, he completed one takeoff and full-stop landing. After taking off again, the pilot turned the airplane onto the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern, and the engine subsequently experienced a total loss of power. As the airplane began to lose altitude, the pilot switched the fuel selector from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank position. The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to restart the engine and then maneuvered the airplane to a field to perform an emergency landing. While landing, the airplane's landing gear dug into the soft terrain, and the nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in damage to the firewall. Maintenance personnel reported that, before transporting the wreckage to a storage facility, they removed about 10 gallons of fuel from the left wing tank and about 1 quart of fuel from the right wing tank; the fuel system was not breached, and no evidence of fuel leakage was found. During the postaccident examination, the engine was successfully started and run for over 5 minutes at various power settings. No mechanical anomalies were noted with the engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.