Federal preliminary report: Plane lost power prior to crash

A late-night airplane crash that occurred nearly 2½ months ago on West Raleigh Boulevard resulted after the plane experienced a total loss of power.

That is according to an aviation investigation preliminary report that the National Transportation Safety Board posted online about the April 14 incident.

According to the preliminary report, the pilot, whose name is not provided and who was alone, had fully fueled the Cessna R172E at Delaware Airpark northwest of Dover, Del.

The preliminary report stated that the pilot was able to depart with 46 gallons of fuel onboard and had performed a full preflight inspection, had visually checked the fuel tanks and had performed an engine runup.

The pilot, however, had not filed a flight plan, according to the preliminary report. Generally, a flight plan is a written or verbal report to air traffic control that includes important information about the upcoming flight.

The pilot left Dover Airpark at 8:30 p.m. for Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, with the departure and the en-route parts of the flight having been uneventful, the preliminary report stated.

A few minutes after the pilot reduced engine power to begin descending to Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional, the power loss occurred, the preliminary report stated.

The pilot turned the aircraft’s auxiliary fuel pump on to push fuel into the engine instead of relying on gravity fed fuel from the fuel tanks in the wings, the preliminary report stated.

The pilot unsuccessfully tried to restart the engine, but with no time for further corrective action, the pilot made a forced landing and the aircraft came to rest at an intersection with substantial damage to both wings, the preliminary report stated.

According to the preliminary report, the pilot said that prior to departing he had performed a fuel calculation, with a planned cruise at a full power setting to break in the engine, which had recently been overhauled.

The pilot had calculated that the aircraft would burn 30 gallons of fuel, with 16 gallons remaining, the preliminary report stated.

Garry Hodges, 73, a professional photographer who has been flying aircraft for nearly half a century, was at the crash scene in April.

Hodges currently chairs the Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport Regional Authority and files a Piper PA28 single-engine aircraft.

Observing in his official role as airport authority chairman, Hodges also was making certain that the scene remained intact until representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration eventually arrived.

In a phone interview Monday, Hodges said that his official statement as the airport authority chairman is that he must adhere to the experts who prepared the preliminary report.

Hodges said that as for what happened to the pilot and the aircraft, “My personal opinion is he ran out of fuel” and that the pilot could have better managed the fuel he had onboard after departure.

“He should have stopped somewhere in Virginia and got fuel,” Hodges added.

Hodges said that the pilot was facing a headwind, which requires the aircraft to use more fuel.

Hodges said that he chooses to run his engine lean at altitude, which means he gets better fuel economy.

Hodges also said that under no circumstance would he fly at night from the Dover area to Rocky Mount without a flight plan and without having communicated with air traffic control.

At the same time, Hodges said that he gives the pilot credit because when the aircraft’s engine quit, the pilot had the presence of mind to avoid a host of power lines, telephone poles and telephone wires and get underneath the traffic signal for West Raleigh and Nashville Road.

Hodges said that a westbound car was approaching as the pilot was eastbound on West Raleigh and that the pilot raised one of the aircraft’s wings so that the car could pass underneath.

Hodges said that when the pilot did so, part of the aircraft got caught on a telephone pole and that what happened next resembled a series of falling dominoes.

“He would have pulled the fat out of the fire had that car not been going out of town. He would have touched down — never hitting anything,” Hodges said. “I give him an award for that.”

Hodges noted that the pilot, who was unharmed, was heading to Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport to refuel en route to a destination somewhere in Florida.

He said that the National Transportation Safety Board is going to issue a final report, which typically is released over a year after such an incident.