Piper PA 28-140 N1782J

Summary

On 16 June 2018 at about 17:15 local time, a Piper PA 28-140 registered N1782J was involved in an accident near Hartford, Connecticut, 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

16 June 2018 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Hartford-Brainard (HFD)

Coordinates

41.7456, -72.6278

Aircraft

Piper PA 28-140

Registration

N1782J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hartford → New Bedford

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR18LA173

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons because postaccident examination of the engine and fuel system did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, which led to the pilot’s forced landing and subsequent runway overshoot and collision with a fence. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that after takeoff, the engine lost partial power, and the airplane would not maintain altitude. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a runway at a nearby closed airport. During the descent, the pilot verified the mixture was full rich and the carburetor heat was off, and he switched fuel tanks. The pilot said the engine did not respond, so he turned it off and executed a "forward slip" and S-turns to position the airplane onto the runway; however, the airplane landed about 600 ft from the departure end of the runway, overran the end of the runway, and struck a fence which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported he believed that the recently replaced fuel selector valve failed and starved the engine of fuel. Postaccident examination of the airplane and an engine test run did not reveal any anomalies with the engine, fuel system or the fuel selector valve that would have precluded normal operation. Thus, the reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined. 

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.