Piper PA38 N2491K

Summary

On 2 April 2011 at about 17:30 local time, a Piper PA38 registered N2491K, operated by Thomas K Dempsey, was involved in an accident near Manville, New Jersey, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

2 April 2011 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Manville, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Central Jersey Regional (47N)

Coordinates

40.5258, -74.5747

Aircraft

Piper PA38

Registration

N2491K

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thomas K Dempsey

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mount Holly → Manville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA225

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s improper fuel management which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he and his son departed on a flight to practice instrument approaches at three different airports. He said that the practice approaches that he completed were uneventful. On the return flight, with the son at the controls, on the base leg of the traffic pattern, the engine experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot said that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. He switched the fuel selector to the right tank, which he used during the practice approaches; however, an attempted restart was unsuccessful. He conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left fuel tank contained less than one pint of fuel, and the right fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.