 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
A PA-28 engine quit from fuel starvation on destination's final following a cross-country flight. The safety pilot gained control of the aircraft and landed safely.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 840070 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Descent Final Approach Initial Approach Landing |
| Route In Use | Direct Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel |
| Person 1 | |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 29.7 Flight Crew Total 202.6 Flight Crew Type 202.6 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
On a cross country to ZZZ. I was a passenger on this flight as well as a safety pilot for the beginning portion of the flight. At the time of the incident I was just a passenger. On decent to land at ZZZ; at roughly 5 miles and 040 bearing to another airport; I heard the engine cease to run. I asked the pilot what he had done to which we replied 'nothing'; I reached up and checked the throttle and said 'I think we just lost our engine' the pilot seemed to freeze up and I said; 'hey you got it' and he just said; 'no take it'. After taking control of the plane I tried to restart the engine; quickly going through the checklist in my head; fuel pump on; swapped tank with no effect. We were with approach and called mayday mayday mayday emergency we just lost our engine. The controller responded quickly and confidently calling out my 'outs' telling us that we were directly over the highway and had an airport off our right at a bearing of about 040. After a few moments I was able to bring the engine back and began a climb. Lost the engine a second time and brought it back yet again. After following the highways to ZZZ the engine died again right as we were swapped over to tower. The plane was able to glide into the airport without incident and taxi clear of the runway at ZZZ. What I feel happened: during the portion of the flight after I was no longer the safety pilot (only the first hour maybe of the flight) the mixture could have been too rich or the power run to high that led to fuel miss management. And I think we simply ran out of fuel; were able to switch tanks and get the engine running again then ran out of fuel again. The controller as well as tower controller did an outstanding job of bringing us in and walking us through our 'outs' all along the way. While I was just a passenger at the time of the event. At the moment I realized that we had lost our engine and by judging the reaction of the PIC; I took over the flight controls; radios; and was able to bring about a safe landing at the field.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A PA-28 engine quit from fuel starvation on destination's final following a cross-country flight. The safety pilot gained control of the aircraft and landed safely.
Narrative: On a Cross Country to ZZZ. I was a passenger on this flight as well as a safety pilot for the beginning portion of the flight. At the time of the incident I was just a passenger. On decent to land at ZZZ; at roughly 5 miles and 040 bearing to another airport; I heard the engine cease to run. I asked the pilot what he had done to which we replied 'nothing'; I reached up and checked the throttle and said 'I think we just lost our engine' the pilot seemed to freeze up and I said; 'hey you got it' and he just said; 'no take it'. After taking control of the plane I tried to restart the engine; quickly going through the checklist in my head; fuel pump on; swapped tank with no effect. We were with Approach and called mayday mayday mayday emergency we just lost our engine. The Controller responded quickly and confidently calling out my 'outs' telling us that we were directly over the highway and had an airport off our right at a bearing of about 040. After a few moments I was able to bring the engine back and began a climb. Lost the engine a second time and brought it back yet again. After following the highways to ZZZ the engine died again right as we were swapped over to tower. The plane was able to glide into the airport without incident and taxi clear of the runway at ZZZ. What I feel happened: During the portion of the flight after I was no longer the safety pilot (only the first hour maybe of the flight) the mixture could have been too rich or the power run to high that led to fuel miss management. And I think we simply ran out of fuel; were able to switch tanks and get the engine running again then ran out of fuel again. The Controller as well as Tower Controller did an outstanding job of bringing us in and walking us through our 'outs' all along the way. While I was just a passenger at the time of the event. At the moment I realized that we had lost our engine and by judging the reaction of the PIC; I took over the flight controls; radios; and was able to bring about a safe landing at the field.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.