Detroit – Ravenna

On October 8, 1998 at 02:55 AM, Detroit – Ravenna experienced a crash involving Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, operated by Castle Aviation, with the event recorded near Ravenna-Portage County Ohio.

The flight was categorized as positioning and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

1 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The pilot departed on a night multiple-leg flight series with full tanks. On approach for the second landing, the green landing gear lights extinguished. The pilot discovered that if the landing gear was extended the circuit breaker would stay in and if the landing gear was retracted the circuit breaker would pop. The circuit breaker controlled the landing gear lights, the engine oil pressure, and both fuel quantity gauges. The pilot continued on four additional flights in that condition. The fourth flight terminated 5 miles from the runway with a double power loss. Examination revealed the fuel tanks were empty. The pilot had flown the airplane 4.3 hours including 6 takeoffs, one missed approach, and a 20 minute ground run prior to departure with both engines running on the final flight.

Aircraft reference details include registration N3543A, MSN 31-7952242, year of manufacture 1979.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 41.1576°, -81.2420°.