Piper PA 32-300 N5222S

Summary

On 7 May 2014 at about 01:30 local time, a Piper PA 32-300 registered N5222S, operated by Smith Christopher, was involved in an accident near Lancaster, Ohio, United States. 2 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

7 May 2014 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lancaster, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Fairfield County (LHQ)

Coordinates

39.7536, -82.6744

Aircraft

Piper PA 32-300

Registration

N5222S

Category

Airplane

Year built

1970

Engines

1

Operator

Smith Christopher

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lancaster → Lancaster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN14LA233

Nobody was injured.

Fuel starvation due to the deterioration of the fuel selector valve, which allowed fuel to be fed from only the right tip tank. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate annual inspection, which failed to detect the deteriorated valve.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and pilot-rated passenger were conducting night touch-and-go landings and were in the traffic pattern for the second landing when the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot advanced the throttle lever to increase the engine rpm, but the engine did not respond. The pilot moved the throttle lever, mixture control, and fuel selector and turned on the fuel pump in an attempt to troubleshoot the loss of power. Unable to restore engine power, the pilot made an emergency landing in a field. A postaccident examination revealed that the fuel selector valve was in the OFF position. The right tip fuel tank did not contain any fuel. The other three fuel tanks were mostly full of fuel. Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Directive (AD) 77-12-01, applicable to the accident airplane, was issued on June 10, 1977, to prevent a fuel system malfunction and a possible power interruption. AD 77-12-01 requires regular inspection of the fuel selector valve; it was most recently completed during the annual inspection, about 5 months before the accident, and no anomalies were noted. A postaccident engine run revealed that the engine operated with no anomalies. The fuel selector valve was obviously worn and degraded to the point that it would not control the fuel flow. The detents were very worn and fuel continued to flow through the selector valve even when between detents and in the OFF position. Thus, the loss of engine power was likely a result of the deteriorated fuel selector valve, which allowed fuel to feed only from the right tip tank until it was exhausted. It is also likely that the deterioration of the fuel selector valve was overlooked during the last annual inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.