At 20:00 PST, a Piper PA-38-112 lost power and was damaged landing on a country road near Kern Valley Airport. The two occupants were not injured. The flight had originated from Las Vegas at 16:00 and was scheduled to terminate at Fresno, Calif. The pilot said he planned to stop for fuel at Inyokern, Calif. The pilot reported that approximately 45 minutes into the flight his passenger became agitated and wanted to land. He diverted to Trona, Calif., approximately 25 miles from Inyokern, to take care of his passenger. There were no fuel services at Trona and he took off and continued the flight to Fresno, without stopping at Inyokern to refuel. The pilot reported to flight following that he was low on fuel and asked for vectors to the nearest airport, which was the unlighted Kern Valley Airport. The pilot descended to 1,000 feet agl to locate the airport. The airplane ran out of gas and the pilot landed on a road, at which point the wing struck a road sign.
Jan. 14, Kernville, Calif. / Piper Tomahawk
At 20:00 PST, a Piper PA-38-112 lost power and was damaged landing on a country road near Kern Valley Airport. The two occupants were not injured. The flight had originated from Las Vegas at 16:00 and was scheduled to terminate at Fresno, Calif. The pilot said he planned to stop for fuel at Inyokern, Calif. The pilot reported that approximately 45 minutes into the flight his passenger became agitated and wanted to land. He diverted to Trona, Calif., approximately 25 miles from Inyokern, to take care of his passenger. There were no fuel services at Trona and he took off and continued the flight to Fresno, without stopping at Inyokern to refuel. The pilot reported to flight following that he w...
Key Takeaways:
- A Piper PA-38-112 was damaged during an emergency landing on a country road near Kern Valley Airport due to fuel exhaustion, though both occupants were uninjured.
- The pilot initially diverted from a planned fuel stop at Inyokern to Trona due to an agitated passenger, despite Trona having no fuel services.
- The flight then continued towards Fresno without refueling, leading to the aircraft running critically low on fuel.
- The aircraft ultimately ran out of gas while the pilot was attempting to locate the unlighted Kern Valley Airport at a low altitude.
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