Piper J3C N46286

Summary

On 20 August 2017 at about 17:45 local time, a Piper J3C registered N46286, operated by Paramount Air Service, was involved in an accident near Green Creek, New Jersey, 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

20 August 2017 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Green Creek, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Paramount (JYO4)

Coordinates

39.0650, -74.9097

Aircraft

Piper J3C

Registration

N46286

Category

Airplane

Year built

1942

Engines

1

Operator

Paramount Air Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Banner Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Green Creek → Green Creek

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA281

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's exhaustion of the fuel supply in the selected tank.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot stated that he filled the airplane's fuel tanks the day before the accident; he departed on the banner tow flight with an estimated 4.8 hours of fuel endurance. After about 4 hours of flight, which included 6 full-power climbs with banners, the engine lost total power. During the subsequent forced landing, the pilot switched from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank and attempted to restart the engine to no avail. The airplane landed in a marsh, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe and firewall. During postaccident examination of the airplane, about 1 gallon of fuel was recovered from the right fuel tank, while no fuel was recovered from the left fuel tank. It is likely that the pilot exhausted the fuel supply in the left fuel tank, which resulted in the total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.