PIPER PA-24 — Eufaula, AL

What happened

A witness reported observing the pilot on the airport ramp before the accident airplane’s departure and later observed the airplane taxiing; however, the witness did not see it take off. The following day, a pilot taxiing for departure saw that the accident airplane had impacted the ground near the end of one of the airport’s runways. ADS-B data showed the airplane departed from the runway and then began a turn back toward the runway, with the recorded data ending during the turn.

During the postaccident examination of the airplane, no fuel was present in any of the airplane’s four fuel tanks except for about one-half gallon of fuel recovered from the left wingtip tank. Although the left main fuel tank was breached during the impact sequence, no fuel was found in the intact right main or right wingtip tanks. The airplane was equipped with two fuel selectors, and the right fuel selector was found positioned to the right main tank and was fully seated in the detent for that position, while the left fuel selector was found in the off position. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airframe or engine was identified during the examination.

The absence of fuel in the fuel tanks after the accident, particularly the selected and intact right main fuel tank, and combined with the lack of evidence supporting a mechanical reason for a loss of engine power, suggest that all of the available fuel in the right main fuel tank had been exhausted during the accident flight takeoff. This ultimately resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. The airplane subsequently impacted terrain as the pilot attempted to maneuver back toward the departure runway.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.