Piper PA-31-350 N3543A

Summary

On 8 October 1998 at about 06:55 local time, a Piper PA-31-350 registered N3543A was involved in an accident near Ravenna, Ohio, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 October 1998 at 06:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Ravenna, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Portage County Airport (29G)

Coordinates

41.1503, -81.2400

Aircraft

Piper PA-31-350

Registration

N3543A

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Detroit → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC99LA005

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to continue to operate the airplane with inoperative equipment which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Factors were the inoperative fuel quantity gauges, and the night conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on a night multiple-leg flight series with full tanks. On approach for the second landing, the green landing gear lights extinguished. The pilot discovered that if the landing gear was extended the circuit breaker would stay in and if the landing gear was retracted the circuit breaker would pop. The circuit breaker controlled the landing gear lights, the engine oil pressure, and both fuel quantity gauges. The pilot continued on four additional flights in that condition. The fourth flight terminated 5 miles from the runway with a double power loss. Examination revealed the fuel tanks were empty. The pilot had flown the airplane 4.3 hours including 6 takeoffs, one missed approach, and a 20 minute ground run prior to departure with both engines running on the final flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.