N33078 – PIPER J5A – 2009-08-27 NTSB Accident Report

On August 27, 2009, a Piper J5A (N33078) was involved in an incident near Holland, MA. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A factor in the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.

The pilot stated that he began the day with an unknown quantity of fuel. Shortly after departing on his second flight of the day, the airplane suffered a complete loss of engine power. During the subsequent forced landing, the left main landing gear caught tall grass and ground-looped the airplane, which resulted in substantial damage to the left landing gear, left wing strut, and left lower fuselage. Post accident examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed no odor of fuel, no fuel spillage, and 5 ounces of fuel in the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA09CA489. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N33078.