Event ERA19LA252

Factual narrative

On August 20, 2019, about 1130 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31P, N90AP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near East Brady, Pennsylvania. The private pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot had recently purchased the airplane and had an annual inspection completed. The airplane had not undergone an annual inspection since April 21, 2010, and in that time, had accumulated 3 hours of total flight time. The pilot reported that, after a normal preflight and engine runup, he departed on a cross-country flight with all six fuel tanks filled to capacity, a total of 242 gallons. He initially set the fuel selectors to the inboard fuel tanks, then after 30 minutes of flight time, he switched to the outboard tanks. About 45 minutes en route, and 15 minutes after switching tanks, the left engine lost total power. Unable to restore power to the left engine per the emergency checklist, he secured the left engine and applied climb power to the right engine, but the airplane continued to descend. The pilot performed a forced landing to a field, during which the airplane impacted an electric fence and trees and came to rest 180° from the direction of travel. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the landing gear had separated, and the right aileron, right wing tip, elevator, and left aileron displayed damage. A detailed examination confirmed engine continuity and compression. The left and right magnetos were disassembled and revealed no anomalies. Further testing was conducted on the fuel servo and controller. The fuel servo was within limits but was not the correct part number. The controller was within the lower limits but did not meet the high-end fuel flow limits. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no other evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of the airplane’s maintenance records found no indication that FAA Airworthiness Directive 2009-02-03, which requires inspecting servo plugs for looseness and damage and inspecting the servo plug gasket, had been complied with. The airplane was equipped with three fuel tanks in each wing: outboard, inboard, and a nacelle tank. The two inboard fuel tanks had a capacity of 56 gallons each; the outboard fuel tanks had a capacity of 40 gallons each, and the two nacelle fuel tanks had a capacity of 25 gallons each. The left wing outboard and inboard tanks were empty; the nacelle tank was full. The right-wing outboard tank was empty; the inboard and nacelle fuel tanks were full. On a cross-country flight during cruise, the left engine suddenly lost all power. The pilot stated he burned fuel from the inboard tanks for 30 minutes, then another 15 minutes on the outboard tanks before the loss of power. Unable to restore power the pilot performed a forced landing to a field. Testing of the left engine fuel servo and controller revealed the servo was not the correct part number for the engine, and the servo did not meet the high-end adjustment test. It is inconclusive that the fuel servo and controller were the cause of the complete loss of engine power. Postaccident examination of the left engine revealed no other evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The left-wing outboard and inboard tanks were found empty, the nacelle tank was full. The right-wing outboard tank was empty and the inboard and nacelle were full. 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).

• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level