Piper J3-C65 N98615

Summary

On 23 October 2020 at about 22:51 local time, a Piper J3-C65 registered N98615 was involved in an accident near El Cajon, California, 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

23 October 2020 at 22:51

Classification

Accident

Location

El Cajon, California, United States

Coordinates

32.8216, -116.9293

Aircraft

Piper J3-C65

Registration

N98615

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA022

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and fuel planning which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the preflight he checked the fuel sight gauges and he believed that both fuel tanks were full. After flying for about an hour, he returned to the airport for a straight in approach and noticed that the fuel might be near exhaustion since he could not see the float at the bottom of the sight glass. While on a 2-mile final approach, the engine lost power. The pilot subsequently initiated a forced landing to an unoccupied school playground. During the landing roll, the pilot intentionally ground looped the airplane to prevent hitting a chain link fence, however, the right wing collided with the fence and was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failure or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.