Arecibo, PR, USA
N6428A
Cessna 182
The commercial pilot was climbing the airplane with four skydivers aboard when the engine lost power. The pilot told the skydivers to jump when he could not restart the engine, and they all jumped successfully without injury. The pilot made a forced landing short of the departure runway, and the airplane collided with small trees, sustaining substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Examination of the airplane disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical problems. The two fuel tanks were not damaged in the accident, and a total of 1.5 gallons was drained from both tanks. The airplane's operation manual indicates that the amount of unusable fuel is 2.5 gallons per tank, or a total of 5 gallons.
On July 25, 2007, about 1620 UTC, a Cessna 182 airplane, N6428A, crashed short of the runway at the Antonio Juarbe Pol Airport, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, following a loss of engine power while climbing with four skydivers. The local skydiving flight was operated by Sky Dive Extreme Divers, Arecibo, under Title 14, CFR Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions. The commercial certificated pilot and the four skydivers were not injured. An FAA Flight Standards Aviation Administration inspector from the San Juan, Puerto Rico office, went to the accident site and inspected the airplane and conducted interviews. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on 7/26, the FAA inspector related that the pilot and operator stated that the airplane had departed the airport with the four skydivers, and was climbing through 9,000 feet in the vicinity of the airport, when the engine started to surge and sputter. The pilot began a descent toward the airport, and when he was unable to restart the engine, the skydivers successfully jumped at 7,500 feet. The pilot circled over the airport, but landed short of runway 08 during the landing approach, colliding with trees and terrain about 250 feet short of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and tail section. The FAA inspector reported that when he examined the airplane, he could not see any fuel in the wing tanks. He said the fuel tanks were intact, that there was no smell of fuel at the site, and that there was signs of leakage from the fuel caps or on the wings. When the airplane's fuel tanks were drained prior to moving it, he said approximately 1.5 gallons (total) was collected from both fuel tanks. According to the manufacturer's operating manual, the unusable fuel for that model 182 is approximately 2.5 gallons per tank, or 5 gallons total.
The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion, which resulted in a loss of engine power during climb, and an off-airport forced landing.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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