NTSB Factual Report

On March 28, 2005, about 1000 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-32-300, N722RM, operated by Belair Flying Club as a rental airplane, received substantial damage on impact with terrain during a forced landing. The airplane experienced a total loss of engine power during climb following departure from Clark County Airport (JVY), Jeffersonville, Indiana. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating on an instrument rules flight plan. The private pilot and three passengers were uninjured. The personal flight departed from JVY about 0955 and was en route to Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The pilot stated that he performed a preflight inspection of the airplane in moderate rain while his family boarded the airplane and the baggage was loaded. He stated that he failed to notice that one of the "quick drains" was stuck open after he drained fuel from it using a "castilated type sump tool [sic]".

The pilot stated that they departed runway 36, northbound towards Indianapolis, Indiana, and were climbing through 3,000 feet mean sea level when "it seemed as if the throttle was some how moved back to the idle position." He stated that after determining that the throttle was okay, he proceeded to set the mixture rich, switched fuel tanks to the other main fuel tank, and turned the auxiliary fuel pump on. He stated that he turned back to JVY in the hopes of possibly reaching the airport because he knew there were "vast" areas of wooded land in front of him. During the descent, the he tried different things to restart the engine including setting the mixture lean.

The pilot stated that as they broke out from the cloud base, he had about 20 seconds to land the airplane. To his right was a long narrow hay field with trees at the far end, which was the only field available within gliding distance of the airplane. In the last second of touchdown it seemed that the trees suddenly moved towards him and were now less than 1,000 feet in front of him. He stated that he was approaching the trees at 90 miles per hour. The rain and fog "greatly" obscured his vision. He stated that he saw another hay field with no trees bearing 30 degrees to the left. The pilot turned towards this field and during the turn, the airplane's left wing and left main landing gear simultaneously contacted the ground. The airplane rolled up hill sliding slightly sideways in the wet field. The airplane rolled down the other side of the hill and bounced across an access road and dropped about 7 feet, folding the nose gear backwards.

The pilot stated that after exiting the airplane, he could see that had he executed the landing on the initial field, there would have been very little likelihood that the airplane would have received any damage.

Inspection of the airplane by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed both wing spars were bent, and the firewall was wrinkled. The right wing fuel tank was full of fuel, and the left main fuel tank contained an unusable amount of fuel. The left main fuel tank "quick drain" was open.

The PA-32-300 Pilot's Operating Handbook Emergency Procedures sections states: "If engine failure was caused by fuel exhausting, power will not be regained after tanks are switched until empty fuel lines are filled, which may be up to ten seconds."

NTSB Probable Cause

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.