Piper PA-30 N7803Y

Summary

On 5 December 2004 at about 00:15 local time, a Piper PA-30 registered N7803Y, operated by Husker Aircraft Repair Inc., was involved in an accident near Atlantic, Iowa, United States. 3 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

5 December 2004 at 00:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlantic, Iowa, United States

Coordinates

41.4072, -95.0469

Aircraft

Piper PA-30

Registration

N7803Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Husker Aircraft Repair Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dubuque → Omaha

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI05CA041

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion. The dark night light conditions was a contributing factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The rental/instructional airplane received substantial damage on impact with terrain during a forced landing. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Inspection of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector(s) were positioned to the main fuel tanks and that the right auxiliary fuel tank contained an estimated 5-10 gallons of fuel. All remaining fuel tanks did not contain any usable fuel. The pilot stated that at the time of total engine power loss, it was decided to enter a left downwind for runway 12 since a straight-in approach to runway 30 at that time would leave "us a little high." The airplane impacted terrain while on final for runway 12. The operator stated that he mentioned to both pilots that there was no fuel in the auxiliary tanks and if the main fuel tanks were full, there was only 3 hours of fuel on board. He stated that both pilots used the accident airplane in their training towards their multiengine land airplane certificates and that they knew what the fuel consumption rate of the airplane was. The pilot and pilot rated passenger held multiengine airplane certificates. The pilot also held a certified flight instructor (CFI) certificate with a single-engine airplane rating, and the pilot-rated passenger held a CFI certificate with single-engine and multiengine land ratings. According to the operator, both pilots had used the accident airplane in their training towards their multiengine airplane certificates and that the purpose of the accident flight was for both pilots to accumulate flight time. The airplane was certified under Civil Air Regulations as a normal category airplane not equipped with shoulder harnesses.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.