Piper PA-28-180 N4209T

Summary

On 10 July 2000 at about 20:47 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N4209T was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 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

10 July 2000 at 20:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Maria, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Maria Public (SMX)

Coordinates

34.8207, -120.4099

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N4209T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Concord → Santa Ynez

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA259

4 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to ensure that an adequate fuel supply was on board at last departure, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane at the en route stop was also causal.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane lost power in cruise flight and made a forced landing in a residential area near the Santa Maria Airport, colliding with obstructions during the touchdown and landing roll. The flight originated at Reno, Nevada, and had made an en route stop at Concord, California. On departure from Reno, the fuel tanks contained 34 total gallons, and the pilot did not refuel the airplane while at Concord. About 25 miles northwest of the accident site, the pilot first observed indications of a low fuel state and notified Los Angeles ARTCC that he would be diverting to Santa Maria because of the critical fuel situation. When the pilot changed frequencies to the Santa Maria ATCT local controller, he reported that he thought the airplane was out of fuel. Two minutes later the pilot announced that he was "completely out of fuel" and did not think he would make it to the runway. The pilot told responding police officers that he figured the fuel on board was adequate to continue to his destination. No breaches were observed in either of the fuel tanks or the lines. No fuel was found in the tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.