Piper PA 32R N8191B

Summary

On 9 March 2018 at about 02:15 local time, a Piper PA 32R registered N8191B was involved in an accident near Big Spring, Texas, 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

9 March 2018 at 02:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Spring, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Midland Airpark (MDD)

Coordinates

32.0367, -102.1017

Aircraft

Piper PA 32R

Registration

N8191B

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

Georgetown → Midland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

GAA18CA152

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to manage the airplane’s fuel supply, which resulted in fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to attempt the flight with an inoperative fuel gauge.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, although the airplane's fuel gauge was providing intermittent information, he decided to depart on a night cross-country flight. During the flight, the engine lost power. The pilot declared an emergency and selected a road to land on. During the landing, the airplane struck power line wires, impacted the ground, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the engine mounts, the rudder and the horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration Aviation safety inspector revealed that the fuel selector was set to the right-wing tank, and there was no usable fuel in the right-wing tank. The left-wing tank contained usable fuel. Per Title 14 CFR 91.205, no person may operate a powered civil aircraft with a standard category US airworthiness certificate with an inoperative fuel gauge.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.