Piper PA24 accident near Westwood, MA
On July 16, 2016, a Piper PA24 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Westwood, MA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- July 16, 2016
- Place
- Westwood, MA
- Aircraft
- Piper PA24 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 42.209°N, 71.158°W
- NTSB ID
- 20160718X90610
Official records · ERA16LA258
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On July 16, 2016, at 1517 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-24-260, N11MT, was substantially damaged during a forced landing in Westwood, Massachusetts, during approach to Norwood Memorial Airport (OWD), Norwood, Massachusetts. The private pilot/co-owner was seriously injured, and the passenger was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which departed from Knox County Regional Airport (RKD), Rockland, Maine, and was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.The pilot was not available for interview due to his injuries. He was interviewed by his attorney, who provided a written statement on his behalf. According to the statement, the pilot and passenger planned a round-trip flight from OWD to RKD to attend a fly-in event. The pilot estimated his outbound and return legs each took 1 hour and 20 minutes, and that the airplane consumed 22 gallons of fuel on each leg. According to his statement, the pilot "…reasonably assumed that he had sufficient fuel with approximately 5 gallons of reserves to safely arrive back at Norwood without the need to switch to the auxiliary tanks during his return flight." Prior to departure, the pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane "generally consistent" with the manufacturer's pilot's operating handbook. His visual inspection of the main fuel tanks "confirmed" that the right wing tank was full, the left wing tank was "down about 3 gallons," and that both right and left auxiliary tanks were full. The pilot stated that the flig
Probable cause
The pilot's improper fuel management, which resulted in exhaustion of the fuel in the selected fuel tank and a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
More accidents in MA
- Gulfstream Aerospace G IV, Jun 1, 2014
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- Cessna 425, Oct 25, 2006
- Piper PA-32-300, Mar 3, 2003
- Cirrus SR-22, Apr 9, 2009
Browse: Massachusetts · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
