NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CEN23LA020
Registry · N8457D
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
PIPER PA-22-160
Year of manufacture
1957 · 65 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19571115
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AB95BD
Registrant of record
MORRISON JAMES
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he conducted a preflight inspection and filled both of the airplane’s fuel tanks. While enroute, the airplane’s engine lost power. The pilot switched fuel tanks but was unable to restore power. The pilot then conducted a forced landing to a rough field, during which the airplane impacted a hay bale. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel tanks contained no usable fuel. No other postaccident malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations were found. Immediately following the accident, the pilot stated that he ran out of fuel. The pilot wrote on NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1 that it was possible either or both fuel tanks were not completely full “due to difficulty with the ladder and fuel pump.” 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).
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2022_CEN23LA020.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor
Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗