Piper PA-22-108 N5181Z

Summary

On 1 July 1998 at about 16:00 local time, a Piper PA-22-108 registered N5181Z was involved in an accident near Spearfish, South Dakota, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one 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

1 July 1998 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Spearfish, South Dakota, United States

Coordinates

44.4801, -103.8391

Aircraft

Piper PA-22-108

Registration

N5181Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Cheyenne

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI98LA235

1 person died.

the pilots improper preflight planning, which failed to detect the fuel selector positioned on the left fuel tank, which had insufficient fuel, resulting in fuel starvation, and the loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane suffered a partial loss of engine power. The pilot conducted a forced landing; however, impacted trees and the terrain during the descent. The pilot told a physician that the airplane suffered a loss of about 70% power and later told his attorney that the airplane suffered fuel exhaustion. An examination of the airplane subsequent to the accident revealed no mechanical anomalies other than those associated with impact. Emergency responders and Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were on site within two hours of the accident. They did not find any fuel leaking from the airplane and did not smell fuel. An examination of the left fuel tank found only unusable fuel. The fuel selector was found positioned to the left fuel tank.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.