Event WPR25LA131

Factual narrative

On April 13, 2025, about 1342 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-32-260, N3797W, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Green Valley, Arizona. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that he was conducting a cross-country flight from the Puerto Penasco Mar De Cortes Airport (MMPE), Sonora, Mexico, to the Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT), Phoenix, Arizona, with a planned rest stop at the Nogales International Airport (OLS), Nogales, Arizona. Shortly after departing from MMPE, he noticed that the generator breaker was having issues. He chose to continue the flight to DVT using the battery backup, cycling the battery power on and off throughout the remainder of the flight to conserve battery power. After departing from OLS, while the airplane was climbing through 6,300 ft msl about 20 miles north of OLS, the engine began to sputter. While troubleshooting, the pilot turned on the electric fuel pump and switched fuel tanks. The passenger noted that the fuel pressure gauge fluctuated between 0 and 30 lbs. The engine sputtering progressively got worse, and the engine lost total power. The pilot determined that the airplane was unable to maintain altitude to reach the nearest airport, so he chose to make an off-airport landing on a dirt road. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered a wind gust and became airborne. The airplane’s left wing and main landing gear impacted a dirt berm, and the airplane came to rest upright. According to recovery personnel, about 20 to 25 gallons of fuel was drained from the left main fuel tank. No fuel was recovered from the right main, left tip, and right tip tanks. Examination of the recovered airframe revealed that recovery personnel had removed both wings from the fuselage for transport. A visual examination of the fuel system revealed no breaches. The fuel selector lever was observed positioned to the right tip tank. Continuity of the fuel system was confirmed from the wings to the fuel servo. To facilitate a leak test, both wings’ fuel inlet lines were capped, and all four fuel tanks were filled with water. Water leakage from the left tip tank was consistent with impact damage to the fuel sump. No other water leakage from any tanks was observed. Continuity of the throttle and mixture control cables was established from the cockpit controls to the carburetor, and all levers moved freely from stop to stop when actuated by hand. To facilitate an engine run, an external fuel tank was attached to the airframe inlet port. During the first attempt to start the engine, the engine rotated but did not start. Additional fuel priming of the engine was conducted, and, on the second attempt, the engine started. Due to vibrations from the damaged propeller, the engine run was limited to about 3 minutes and about 1,000 rpm. The engine was subsequently equipped with a substitute constant-speed propeller, and it ran uneventfully through various power settings for about 5 minutes. A functional check of the magnetos revealed a change of about 50 rpm during the left and right magneto checks. The throttle was advanced to the full forward position, and a static rpm of about 2,700 rpm was observed. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no preaccident mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane was equipped with a J. P. Instruments EDM-730/830 engine monitor that was capable of recording and storing data for up to 24 parameters related to engine operation. The engine monitor was removed at sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory. Examination of the engine monitor revealed no visible damage to the exterior of the unit. The device powered on normally, but, when downloading data from the unit, no files were recovered. The pilot reported that, while conducting a cross-country flight, he noted that the airplane’s generator breaker was malfunctioning. He chose to continue the flight on battery backup, cycling the battery power on and off throughout the remainder of the flight to conserve power. While the airplane was climbing through 6,300 ft mean sea level (msl) about 20 miles north of the planned rest stop, the engine began to sputter. While troubleshooting, the pilot turned on the electric fuel pump and switched fuel tanks. Despite his attempts to troubleshoot, the engine lost total power. The pilot determined that the airplane could not maintain flight to reach the nearest airport. He initiated a forced landing to a dirt road, during which the airplane’s left wing struck a dirt berm and sustained substantial damage. Although the airplane was equipped with an engine monitor capable of recording numerous parameters related to engine operation, the unit contained no data. It is likely that, due to the electrical power interruption during the flight, the engine monitor did not record any data. Examinations of the recovered airframe and engine, which included an engine run, revealed no preaccident mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. About 20 to 25 gallons of fuel was recovered from the left main tank, but the right main and both tip tanks were devoid of fuel. The fuel selector lever was found positioned to the right tip tank. Continuity of the fuel system was established from the main fuel tanks throughout the system to the fuel servo. During a leak test, the left main, right main, and right tip tanks showed no evidence of leakage, and the leakage observed from the left tip tank was consistent with impact damage to the fuel sump. Based on the available information, it is likely that the pilot failed to select a fuel tank that contained fuel, which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power. 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-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot
• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management