Piper PA28 N3971R

Summary

On 24 November 2015 at about 21:00 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N3971R, operated by Resnick Quinn A, was involved in an accident near Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and 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

24 November 2015 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Gwinnet County Airport (LZU)

Coordinates

33.9781, -83.9625

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N3971R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

1

Operator

Resnick Quinn A

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrenceville → Lawrenceville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA051

1 person was seriously injured.

The flight instructor's inadequate fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power during initial climb due to fuel starvation and a subsequent forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot departed their home airport with about 34 gallons of fuel on board the airplane for the planned approximate 60-mile, round-trip, cross-country instructional flight. The student pilot reported that, after landing at the destination airport, they completed two more full-stop landings before returning to, and then landing uneventfully at, the departure airport. The flight instructor wanted the student pilot to complete one more landing before concluding the lesson. The student stated that, during the subsequent takeoff, everything seemed normal until he turned the airplane onto the crosswind leg of the airport traffic pattern, at which time the engine lost all power. The flight instructor then took control of the airplane. The flight instructor reported that he chose not to attempt to turn back and glide to the airport because the airplane was about 500 ft above ground level. He subsequently performed a forced landing straight ahead into trees. Both fuel tanks were compromised during the impact, and the fuel quantity at impact could not be determined. Subsequently, an engine test run was performed with no anomalies noted. Both pilots reported that they did not switch the fuel tanks following the total loss of engine power. The student pilot further stated that the airplane "ran out of gas." Review of performance information for the make and model airplane revealed that, based on the reported fuel onboard the airplane at the beginning of the day, it should have had between 5 and 10 gallons of fuel remaining at the time of the accident. Although the amount of fuel in each fuel tank could not be determined, the loss of engine power likely resulted from a lack of available fuel in the selected tank. Because the flight instructor was the pilot-in-command and told the student to conduct another landing, he should have been more cognizant of the fuel level in the tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.