ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 211585
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| Date: | Monday 28 May 2018 |
| Time: | 12:10 |
| Type: |  Fairchild PT-23 |
| Owner/operator: | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum |
| Registration: | N64176 |
| MSN: | 256H0 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1943 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1391 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental W670-16 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Westport Airport, Wichita, Kansas -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Wichita, KS (71K) |
| Wichita, KS (71K) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The private pilot reported that he filled the airplane with fuel 5 days before the accident flight. He had not flown the airplane in the intervening 5 days, and the fuel indicators were still showing that the tanks were full before the accident flight. The pilot calculated that there should have been sufficient fuel onboard for a 3-hour 15-minute-long flight. The pilot was performing flyovers at five cemeteries, which required flying holding orbits at three of the cemeteries and two passes at the other two cemeteries. He then flew back toward the departure airport to land. When the airplane was about 5 minutes from the airport, he switched fuel tanks to what appeared to be the fullest tank. He reported that the fuel level in both fuel tanks was low but that the fuel quantity indicators were showing above “E.” While on final approach, between 150 and 200 ft above the ground, the engine lost total power. He switched fuel tanks and started using the manual pump, and the engine regained power for 1 to 2 seconds before losing power again. He subsequently conducted an off-airport, forced landing in a lot about 1/8 mile from the end of the runway. The airplane touched down hard and bounced, and the right wing hit a pole. The airplane then impacted a fence and another pole before coming to rest.
The pilot used a flight tracker program, and it showed that the flight was only 2 hours 41 minutes long.
Postaccident examination of the accident site found no fuel spillage. Examination of the airplane revealed that each fuel tank contained about 1/2 cup of fuel. About a teaspoon of fuel was recovered from the engine strainer bowl. Although the pilot thought there was sufficient fuel onboard the airplane for the flight, given the evidence, it is likely that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion because the pilot miscalculated the fuel consumption rate during preflight planning.
Probable Cause: A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot’s miscalculation of the fuel consumption rate during preflight planning.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N64176
Location
Media:
— Jason Tidd (@Jason_Tidd) May 28, 2018
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-May-2018 20:55 | Iceman 29 | Added |
| 28-May-2018 20:59 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-May-2018 21:24 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 28-May-2018 22:14 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2018 20:48 | TB | Updated [Operator] |
| 30-May-2018 06:17 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 01-May-2019 09:17 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Cn, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 01-May-2019 14:17 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
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