Piper PA-28-180 N33170

Summary

On 23 August 2003 at about 10:55 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N33170 was involved in an accident near Nampa, Idaho, United States. 4 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

23 August 2003 at 10:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Nampa, Idaho, United States

Nearest airport

Nampa Municipal Airport (S67)

Coordinates

43.5781, -116.5197

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N33170

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bountiful → Nampa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA03LA177

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power. A factor was the unsuitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the airplane passed over the last airport on its route of flight where fuel was available, the pilot determined he was doing good on time and had plenty of fuel to reach his destination. On its final approach to the destination airport, and after having run out of fuel in one tank, the pilot switched over to the other tank. As the second tank's contents became exhausted, the pilot, in an attempt to keep the engine running, switched back and forth between tanks a couple of times; however, this proved unsuccessful and the aircraft's fuel supply was now entirely exhausted. Seeing that he would not make the runway, the pilot landed in a field just short of the runway. The lower right wing was substantially damaged as a result of an upward compression deformation of the wing structure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.