Piper PA-28-181 N8770C

Summary

On 15 August 1998 at about 09:53 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N8770C, operated by Tomcat Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Grand Prairie, Texas, United States. 3 people were 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

15 August 1998 at 09:53

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Prairie, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.6901, -97.0095

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N8770C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tomcat Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Shreveport → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW98LA359

Nobody was injured.

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to refuel which resulted in the loss of engine power. Factors were the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing, and the dark night light conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a dark night forced landing to Interstate 20's westbound lanes, the pilot was forced to land on the outside lanes due to a vehicle in the passing lane. During the landing, the right wing of the airplane collided with the guardrail. The pilot had flown the airplane from Arlington, Texas, to Shreveport, Louisiana, the day prior to the accident. The pilot did not refuel the aircraft at Shreveport. On the early morning return flight to Arlington, the pilot got off course and could not reorient himself. Fort Worth FSS in coordination with DFW Approach, provided the pilot with 'radar vectors to Arlington.' While at 2,000 feet msl, over Joe Pool Lake, the engine lost power and the pilot was unable to restart it. The pilot reported to a law enforcement officer 'that he became low on fuel and attempted to make an emergency landing.' Examination of the fuel system by an FAA inspector revealed that it had not been compromised, and there was no usable fuel in either fuel tank. The Hobbs meter showed 4.1 hours since the pilot rented the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.