Piper PA-28-150 accident near Savannah, Georgia, February 26, 2022

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The student pilot was conducting a solo flight and was on the base leg of the traffic pattern at the conclusion of the flight when the engine lost total power. The pilot determined that he could not reach the runway and chose a river for the forced landing, during which the airplane sustained substantial damage. Examination of fueling and dispatch records revealed that at the time of the accident, the airplane had logged 4.1 hours of flight since it was most recently fueled to capacity, which would have provided about 5.3 hours of endurance in a nominal cruise flight configuration of 75% power with a fuel consumption rate of about 9 gallons per hour (gph). Interviews with the student pilot and his flight instructor, as well as a review of surveillance video of the preflight inspection, revealed that the student pilot did not visually inspect the fuel quantity. Although the instructor performed a visual inspection, the fuel quantity measuring device for the airplane “was broken” and was not used. Recovery and examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel tanks were intact. The right fuel tank contained about 1 gallon of fuel, and the left fuel tank contained about 2 to 3 gallons of fuel. There was no evidence of fuel spillage in the water at the accident site. The fuel selector was found in the right tank position. There was no evidence found of mechanical deficiencies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of data downloaded from the airplane’s engine data monitor revealed fuel flow rates at or above 10 gph for about 21 minutes of the 1.1-hour flight. Given the position of the fuel selector, the small amount of fuel found in the right tank, and the lack of mechanical anomalies, it is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of fuel starvation when the fuel supply in the right tank was exhausted.

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.