Piper PA-24-250 N5058P

Summary

On 10 June 2003 at about 16:30 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N5058P was involved in an accident near Fallon, Nevada, United States. One person was 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

10 June 2003 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Fallon, Nevada, United States

Coordinates

39.6833, -118.7486

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N5058P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lovelock → Fallon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03LA190

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight and his mismanagement of the fuel supply by his failure to switch fuel tanks.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with obstacles during an emergency landing on a highway following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. Prior to departure, the pilot had visually checked the airplane's fuel tanks, but did not use a dipstick or other means to quantify the fuel on board. He then set the fuel selector to the right tank deeming it the fullest one at an estimated ¾ capacity. Not wanting to wait for fuel, the pilot departed the airport and left the fuel selector on the right tank for the duration of the flight until the engine lost power. Post accident investigation of the aircraft by an A&P mechanic revealed the right tank to be "completely dry." The left still had ½ to 1 inch of fuel remaining. After refueling the aircraft, an engine run-up did not reveal any discrepancies with either the engine, the engine's fuel flow, or the engine driven and electrical fuel pumps. The pilot later stated that the accident could have been prevented by "not relying on the fuel gage" and by sticking the tanks "with a paint stick or something appropriate" instead of relying on a visual inspection to accurately determine fuel quantity in the tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.