Piper PA31 C-GJBG

Summary

On 18 June 2024 at about 17:00 local time, a Piper PA31 registered C-GJBG was involved in an accident near Lemoore, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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

18 June 2024 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lemoore, California, United States

Nearest airport

Lemoore (KNLC)

Coordinates

36.3642, -119.9607

Aircraft

Piper PA31

Registration

C-GJBG

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madera → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA212

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot’s improper in-flight decision making which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent emergency landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The left-seated pilot stated that she was recently hired with the operator and was new to flying survey operations. The right-seated pilot was training her for survey operations. They filed a flight plan for a 5-hour survey flight and filled the fuel tanks full. After takeoff, the fuel selector was set to the outboard tanks and after 1 hour and 50 minutes, the inboard tanks were selected. After another 2 hours and 20 minutes, the pilot noticed lower-than-expected fuel on the gauges and opted to end the flight early. Approximately 10 minutes after turning back, the engines had intermittent power loss and were sputtering due to low fuel. The pilot made a request to land at a nearby Naval Base and declared an emergency. The controller communicated runway 14L was closed. The pilot approached runway 14R and noticed people and objects on the runway. They were redirected to land on another runway, but the airplane was too low and touched down on grass. The airplane continued the landing roll into a security fence, damaging the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.