Piper PA-28-161 N9202C

Summary

On 10 July 2011 at about 15:15 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N9202C, operated by Euro American School of Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Ormond Beach, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 July 2011 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Ormond Beach, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Ormond Beach Municipal (OMN)

Coordinates

29.3003, -81.1081

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N9202C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Euro American School of Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ormond Beach → Ormond Beach

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11LA393

2 people were seriously injured.

The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation, which resulted from the flight instructor's inadequate in-flight fuel management.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a 1.2-hour instructional flight, with the student pilot at the controls, the airplane lost engine power after takeoff. The airplane was climbing through 200 feet above ground level when the loss of power occurred, and the flight instructor maneuvered the airplane to a forced landing before it impacted trees beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the engine and airplane at the accident site did not reveal any preexisting mechanical anomalies that may have caused the loss of engine power. The flight instructor stated that each wing tank contained about 12 gallons of fuel before the flight. According to performance charts in the airplane's operating handbook, at best economy mixture settings, the engine would burn about 8.5 gallons per hour, which would result in about 1.4 hours of flight time for 12 gallons of fuel. The preflight ground checks of 0.2 hours and flight time of 1.2 hours would equate to about 12 gallons of fuel burn for the accident flight. Both the flight instructor and student pilot stated that the fuel selector was in the right tank position throughout the flight and was not switched to the left tank, even though the left tank had about 12 gallons of fuel. This resulted in fuel starvation to the engine when the right tank was depleted of fuel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.