Summary
On April 02, 2011, a Piper PA38 (N2491K) was involved in an accident near Manville, NJ. The accident resulted in 1 serious injury, 1 minor injury. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this accident to be: The pilot’s improper fuel management which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
The pilot stated that he and his son, who also held a pilot's certificate, had conducted several practice instrument approaches at three different airports prior to stopping for lunch. They departed back to their home airport, and on the base leg of the traffic pattern for landing, experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot noted that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. The pilot switched the fuel selector to the right tank, attempted a restart, but the engine did not restart. The pilot's son conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder.
This accident is documented in NTSB report ERA11CA225. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N2491K.
Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot’s improper fuel management which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
The pilot stated that he and his son, who also held a pilot's certificate, had conducted several practice instrument approaches at three different airports prior to stopping for lunch. They departed back to their home airport, and on the base leg of the traffic pattern for landing, experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot noted that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. The pilot switched the fuel selector to the right tank, attempted a restart, but the engine did not restart. The pilot's son conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left fuel tank contained less than one pint of fuel, and the right fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# ERA11CA225