Event CEN17LA166

Factual narrative

On April 23, 2017, about 1800 central daylight time, a Piper PA 31-350 twin-engine airplane, N3548J, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Covington, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and passenger were not injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The cross-country flight departed Concordia Parish Airport (0R4), Vidalia, Louisiana, and was en route to Slidell Airport (ASD), Slidell, Louisiana.According to a written statement submitted by the pilot, all four fuel tanks were filled full of fuel. He departed ASD at 1130 and flew to Destin Executive Airport (DTS), Destin, Florida, at an estimated time en route of 2 hours and 30 minutes. He then flew from DTS to 0R4 at an estimated time en route of 1 hour and 45 minutes. The pilot did not obtain fuel at either DTS or 0R4. According to the pilot, about 25 to 30 minutes after departure, on the final leg of the trip, the left engine lost power. About 10 minutes later, the right engine lost power. The pilot landed the airplane in an open field. During the landing roll, the outboard portion of the left wing and the left aileron separated when the left wing hit a tree. According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who responded to the accident, when sumping the fuel he observed a slow, slight stream of fuel from all of the fuel sumps. Less than an ounce of fuel was recovered from each sump. An examination of the airframe, engines, and related systems revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The recovery team recovered about 1 to 2 quarts of fuel from the entire fuel system. The fuel tanks were otherwise empty. The Pilot Operating Handbook for the Piper PA 31-350 stated that the airplane had 182 gallons of useable fuel. Depending on airplane weight, flight altitude, temperature, and engine power settings, the fuel burn ranges between 26.3 and 43.6 gallons of fuel per hour. The commercial pilot departed with full fuel tanks for a multileg, cross-country flight. The pilot estimated that his total flight time for the first two legs of the trip was 4 hours 15 minutes, and he landed at two different airports but did not obtain fuel. About 25 to 30 minutes into the last leg of the flight, the left engine lost power. Shortly thereafter, the right engine lost power. The pilot conducted a forced landing to a field, during which the outboard portion of the left wing and aileron hit a tree and separated from the airplane. About 1 to 2 quarts of fuel were recovered from the entire fuel system. An examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that both engines lost total power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's improper fuel planning. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome