Piper PA25 N7366Z

Summary

On 10 September 2020 at about 19:30 local time, a Piper PA25 registered N7366Z was involved in an accident near Destin, 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

10 September 2020 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Destin, Florida, United States

Coordinates

30.3947, -86.4703

Aircraft

Piper PA25

Registration

N7366Z

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Banner Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Panama City → Panama City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20CA317

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to manage the available fuel supply which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a routine banner tow flight in an airplane equipped with a main fuel tank as well as an auxiliary fuel tank that transferred fuel to the main fuel tank via a manually activated fuel pump. The pilot was distracted due to the air traffic control and the volume of air traffic in the area, and stated that he did not activate the auxiliary fuel tank transfer pump at the turnaround point where he typically would have during other banner tow flights. After about 3 hours of flight time, the engine lost power. The pilot was unsuccessful in his attempts to restart the engine, which included activating the fuel transfer pump during the descent. He subsequently ditched the airplane into the Gulf of Mexico, during which both of the airplane’s wings were substantially damaged.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.