Piper PA-28-181 accident near Raymore, Missouri, June 15, 2005
On June 15, 2005 at about 5:30 am local time, a Piper PA-28-181, registered N6294C, was substantially damaged in an accident near Raymore, Missouri. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The loss of total engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight. A factor was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 15, 2005 · about 5:30 am local time
- Place
- Raymore, Missouri · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-181 · all PA-28-181s on the register
- Registration
- N6294C · registry record · serial 28-7890358
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing after a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that the projected flight time was "expected to be 2 hours and 36 minutes, and the fuel on board was planned at 5 hours 30 minutes, with a 2 hour reserve." When he was about 25 nm from his destination airport, he started his descent from 4,500 feet mean sea level (msl) to 2,000 feet msl. He reported that he checked the fuel gauges and they indicated that the fuel was "well over half full." When he was about 12 nm from the airport, the engine lost power over a populated area. He executed a forced landing to an area that did not have lights. The airplane landed upright in a muddy field after skidding about 200-300 feet. About one cup of fuel was drained from each wing tank sump and about a spoonful of fuel from the gascolator during the examination of the airplane. There was no evidence of a fuel leak anywhere on the airplane. The engine was rotated and thumb compression was observed on all cylinders, and spark was observed on all spark plugs. The pilot rented the airplane from a fixed base operator on June 10, 2005. The airplane was dispatched with the fuel tanks topped off with 48 gallons of fuel. The pilot reported that he flew nonstop to an airport located 246 nautical miles away. The pilot reported that on June 14, 2005, he flew to an airport that was 23 nautical miles away where he purchased 20.0 gallons of fuel. The pilot then flew back to the same airport 23 nautical miles away before departing on the accident flight later that night. The tachometer indicated the airplane had operated 6.2 hours, and the Hobbs meter indicated the airplane had flown 6.0 hours since the airplane was dispatched to the pilot on June 10th. The Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) indicated that the average fuel burn at 75 percent power with the engine properly leaned was about 10.5 gallons per hour. The average fuel burn for the accident airplane during the 6.0 hours (Hobbs time) it had been rented to the pilot was about 11.3 gallons per hour.
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: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,001 hours in all; 545 in this make and model; 32 in the last 90 days; 22 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-360 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Kansas City Aviation Center
The flight
- Departed from: PJY Pinckneyville IL at 3:30 am
- Destination: OJC Olathe KS
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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 N6294C 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.