Accident Overview
On August 7, 2009, about 1743 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, registration N20977, was substantially damaged during a forced landing at Winchester Regional Airport (OKV), Winchester, Virginia. The certificated private pilot and the passenger both incurred minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
Preflight and Flight
According to the pilot, the flight was intended as a sightseeing trip over Winchester and the Shenandoah area. He completed a preflight inspection using the operator's checklist and sumped fuel from each tank and the gascolator, finding no water or debris. The pilot could not recall the exact fuel quantity during inspection. After a normal engine run-up, he departed OKV around 1615 and flew at 1,500 to 2,000 feet above ground level.
Engine Power Loss
While returning to OKV, about 3 to 5 miles south of the airport, and positioning for a 45-degree entry to the traffic pattern, the engine power decreased from full to idle. The pilot turned directly toward the airport and worked through emergency procedures. He repeated the procedures three times during descent; each time the engine surged to full power, then returned to idle. After the third attempt, he could not determine if the engine was idling or if the propeller was wind-milling.
Forced Landing
The pilot performed a forced landing, and the airplane came to rest about 1,200 feet prior to the runway threshold. During the landing, the airplane struck a fence, resulting in substantial damage.
Post-Accident Findings
The weather at OKV at 1800 included winds from 220 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies, temperature 26°C, dew point 11°C, and barometric pressure 30.15 inches of mercury.
Airport and aircraft recovery personnel reported both fuel tanks were compromised during the accident sequence, but there was no odor of fuel and no evidence of fuel spillage at the scene.
The engine was test-run on October 8, 2009, under NTSB supervision. Fresh fuel was plumbed to the engine at the firewall. The engine started without hesitation and ran smoothly and continuously at various power settings for about 2 minutes, with no abnormalities noted.
Fueling records showed the airplane was last fueled on July 30, 2009. The exact amount added was not recorded, but the operator's director of maintenance stated standard procedure was to top off fuel tanks unless otherwise instructed. The airplane had accumulated 4.2 total flight hours on its third flight since the last fuel service.
According to the Piper PA-28-161 Pilot’s Operating Handbook, the airplane had two 25-gallon fuel tanks, with 1 gallon unusable per tank. Fuel consumption calculations indicated an expected cruise endurance between 4.8 and 5.6 hours at power settings between 55% and 75% power, at best power and best economy fuel flow settings. This calculation did not include fuel burned during taxi, run-up, takeoff, climb, descent, or landing.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with single-engine land rating and reported 227 total flight hours, including 38 hours in the accident airplane make and model.