Piper PA-24-250 N6248P

Summary

On 27 July 2012 at about 19:09 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N6248P, operated by Scott Musser, was involved in an accident near Blacksburg, Virginia, 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

27 July 2012 at 19:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Blacksburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Montgomery Executive (BCB)

Coordinates

37.2078, -80.4078

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N6248P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Scott Musser

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crestview → Blacksburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA486

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and improper in-flight fuel management, which resulted in a total 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 airplane was approaching the destination airport, and, according to the pilot, the left fuel selector was set to the left main tank and the right fuel selector was set to the right main tank. The engine began to lose power, and the pilot subsequently applied carburetor heat and placed the right fuel selector to the right tip tank position. However, the engine did not regain power. The pilot made a forced landing in the airport parking lot, and the airplane collided with a perimeter fence, resulting in structural wing damage. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed that neither of the main fuel tanks contained usable fuel. The right tip tank contained about 7.5 gallons of fuel; however, the fuel selector was placarded with a note stating that the tip tanks were for use in level flight only. With the left main tank selected and no fuel in that tank, air would have been introduced into the fuel system, resulting in fuel starvation. The pilot’s preflight planning indicated an en route time of 2 hours 32 minutes. However, when the loss of power occurred, the flight had been airborne for about 3 hours 39 minutes. The pilot reported that he was not sure if the airplane’s fuel gauges were accurate, so he relied on fuel burn rate calculations during the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.