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| Date: | Saturday 21 June 2008 |
| Time: | 16:13 |
| Type: |  Flight Design CTSW |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N460CT |
| MSN: | 05-07-06 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 322 hours |
| Engine model: | Rotax 912ULS |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Von Ormy, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Houston, TX (SGR) |
| Castorville, TX (T89) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
As the pilot was being radar vectored through controlled airspace, the engine began to sputter and then it "stopped." The pilot was unable to restart the engine, so he moved the propeller to the horizontal position "to protect the engine during touchdown." He selected a "good field" in level pastureland for the forced landing. After turning onto the base leg, he noticed a number of horses grazing at the beginning of the field and he turned on final approach sooner than intended. This moved his touchdown point further downfield than he wanted. Indicated airspeed was 50 mph in the flare. He lowered the flaps to 40 degrees. As soon as he cleared the horses, he retracted the flaps to "increase the friction of the brakes on the grassy pasture surface. This made the pasture a little short" and the airplane overran the end and struck a wire fence, collapsing the nose gear and buckling the composite structure. The pilot admitted that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion "which could have been avoided by obtaining fuel at the last stop." He said the airplane was not equipped with in-flight readable fuel indicators, only a dipstick gauge, and this makes it "tricky to utilize the full 34 gallon capacity." He concluded that "an accurate fuel gauge and experience with timing and fuel usage at a certain RPM would have solved this fuel management problem." He recommended that "the fuel indicator tubes in the wing roots be changed at every annual inspection."
Probable Cause: The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident were a proper touchdown point was not possible and the inadequate display of the fuel quantity indicator.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 May 2006 | N460CT | Private | 0 | Leesburg, Virginia | |
sub |
| 30 July 2012 | N460CT | Private | 0 | South Mohawk Road, Hutchinson, KS | |
sub |
| Runway excursion | ||||||
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Jul-2008 12:12 | Fusko | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:14 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:16 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:20 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 03-Dec-2017 11:20 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Plane category, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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