Piper PA-28R-180 EC-FRL Emergency Landing in Barro, Spain

Incident Overview and Flight Details On October 26, 2014, a Piper PA-28R-180 with registration EC-FRL departed from Vigo Airport (LEVX) at 11:24 local time for a local flight over the rías of Vigo and Pontevedra. The aircraft was operated privately and was equipped with a single Lycoming IO-360-B1E engine. The pilot, a 50-year-old holder of a PPL(A) license with 492 total flight hours, was accompanied by three passengers. The flight was conducted under visual flight rules in optimal weather conditions. The pilot had filed a flight plan at 10:30, indicating one person on board and a 3-hour endurance, though the actual number of occupants was four. The last communication with the aircraft occurred at 11:28 as it left the Vigo control zone. Approximately 36 minutes into the flight, at 12:00, the pilot reported that the engine lost power and stopped. After unsuccessful attempts to restart the engine, the pilot configured the aircraft for an emergency landing. The aircraft bounced on a mound of earth, causing it to descend a slope and crash into a ravine near an industrial area in the municipality of Barro, Pontevedra. The aircraft was destroyed, and all four occupants sustained serious injuries. No fire occurred. The pilot was interviewed three weeks later, stating that he switched the fuel selector to the left tank and then back to the right after the engine stopped. He deployed the landing gear and selected 25 degrees of flaps for the landing. The aircraft's fuel system inspection revealed that the left wing tank contained approximately 53 liters of fuel, while the right wing tank contained less than the unusable fuel quantity. The fuel selector was found in the right tank position. The aircraft's flight manual recommended switching to the unused tank as the first step in the event of engine power loss. The pilot's previous flight, from Rozas to Vigo, had been conducted with the fuel selector on the right tank. The aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder, as not required by regulations. The maintenance records were in accordance with the approved program, with the last 100-hour inspection performed on October 3, 2014. The aircraft's airworthiness certificate was valid until February 26, 2015. The impact forces were absorbed by the aircraft's structure, and seatbelts were effective in retaining occupants, although one front right seat exceeded its guide track, causing the occupant to strike the instrument panel. A fire extinguisher was found loose in the cabin, posing a potential hazard.