ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 37686
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 July 1998 |
| Time: | 12:00 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-22-108 |
| Owner/operator: | Harley Opperman |
| Registration: | N5181Z |
| MSN: | 22-8848 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1961 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-290-D2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Spearfish, SD -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | , SD (KSPF) |
| Cheyenne, WY (KCYS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airplane suffered a partial loss of engine power. The pilot conducted a forced landing; however, impacted trees and the terrain during the descent. The pilot told a physician that the airplane suffered a loss of about 70% power and later told his attorney that the airplane suffered fuel exhaustion. An examination of the airplane subsequent to the accident revealed no mechanical anomalies other than those associated with impact. Emergency responders and Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were on site within two hours of the accident. They did not find any fuel leaking from the airplane and did not smell fuel. An examination of the left fuel tank found only unusable fuel. The fuel selector was found positioned to the left fuel tank.
Probable Cause: the pilots improper preflight planning, which failed to detect the fuel selector positioned on the left fuel tank, which had insufficient fuel, resulting in fuel starvation, and the loss of engine power.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CHI98LA235
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 07-Apr-2024 06:15 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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