At 14:35 eastern time, a Piper PA-34-200T struck rocks while making a forced landing onto the shoreline at Petoskey after apparently running out of fuel. IMC prevailed. The pilot and one passenger suffered minor injuries, while five other passengers were uninjured. The pilot had flown to Mackinac Island the previous evening and the pilot calculated he had enough fuel to get from Mackinac Island to Pellston, Mich. (Fuel is unavailable at Mackinac Island.) He had about 12 gallons in each tank at takeoff and Pellston was about 10 minutes away. The pilot said the vectors he was given resulted in a 90-degree intercept of the final approach course and he flew through the localizer. The controller issued instructions to climb and reintercept the localizer. The pilot queried the climb, but the instructions were repeated. He passed the outer marker 3,600 feet high and could not descend to the airport. He executed a missed approach and was cleared to Charlevoix. He couldnt find it on the map, so he was cleared to Harbor Springs. He could not fly the RNAV approach there and he reported being very low on fuel. The right engine failed and he was told he was over Harbor Springs, although he was over Petoskey. He descended through the clouds, the left engine failed, and the airplane broke out about 300 to 400 feet above the water. He maneuvered toward shore and crashed into shallow water at the shoreline.
September 23, Petoskey, Mich. / Piper Seneca II
At 14:35 eastern time, a Piper PA-34-200T struck rocks while making a forced landing onto the shoreline at Petoskey after apparently running out of fuel. IMC prevailed. The pilot and one passenger suffered minor injuries, while five other passengers were uninjured. The pilot had flown to Mackinac Island the previous evening and the pilot calculated he had enough fuel to get from Mackinac Island to Pellston, Mich. (Fuel is unavailable at Mackinac Island.) He had about 12 gallons in each tank at takeoff and Pellston was about 10 minutes away. The pilot said the vectors he was given resulted in a 90-degree intercept of the final approach course and he flew through the localizer. The controller...
Key Takeaways:
- A Piper PA-34 made a forced landing onto the Petoskey shoreline, striking rocks, after both engines failed due to fuel exhaustion.
- The incident followed an initial pilot miscalculation of fuel from Mackinac Island and subsequent navigational difficulties in IMC, including a missed approach at Pellston and inability to find alternate airports.
- ATC vectors contributed to the missed approach at Pellston, and the pilot reported very low fuel before both engines failed sequentially during attempts to reach alternate destinations.
- The pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries, while five others were uninjured, after the aircraft descended through clouds and crashed into shallow water at the shoreline.
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