Piper PA-32-300 accident near Jeffersonville, Indiana, March 28, 2005
On March 28, 2005 at about 3:00 pm local time, a Piper PA-32-300, registered N722RM, was substantially damaged in an accident near Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadequate preflight of the aircraft by his failure to detect an open fuel drain which resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to follow emergency procedures, low ceiling, fog and rain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 28, 2005 · about 3:00 pm local time
- Place
- Jeffersonville, Indiana · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-300 · all PA-32-300s on the register
- Registration
- N722RM · registry record · serial 32-7440140
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The rental airplane impacted terrain during a forced landing on a wet hay field after the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power during climb from the departure airport. The pilot stated that he preflighted the airplane in moderate rain while his family boarded the airplane, and the baggage was loaded. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed with ceilings of approximately 500 feet above ground level at the time of the accident. Following the loss of engine power, the pilot reportedly switched fuel tanks and changed mixture settings from rich to lean but was unable to restart the engine. He initated a turn back to the departure airport due to his concern of wooded terrain in the area he was flying over. When he broke out of the cloud base, he had about "20 seconds" to land the airplane on a field that he selected. He stated that his vision was "greatly" obscured by rain and fog and that trees at the end of the field appeared closer that he originally anticipated. The pilot then changed his landing field to an adjacent field where he landed and impacted terrain. The pilot stated that there would have been "little likelihood" of the airplane receiving any damage if he had not switched fields. Inspection of the airplane revealed that the left main fuel tank contained unusable fuel, and the left main fuel tank "quick drain" was open. The airplane's Pilot's Operating Handbook Emergency Procedures states: "If engine failure was caused by fuel exhaustion, power will not be regained after tanks are switched until empty fuel lines are filled, which may be up to ten seconds."
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider
- Flight time: 6,700 hours in all; 43 in this make and model; 38 in the last 90 days; 29 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-K1A5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: JVY Jeffersonville IN
- Destination: AZO Kalamazoo MI
- Flight plan: IFR
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N722RM the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.