Lake LA-4-200 N12SF

Summary

On 22 July 2000 at about 18:50 local time, a Lake LA-4-200 registered N12SF was involved in an accident near Logan, West Virginia, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 July 2000 at 18:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Logan, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Logan County Airport (6L4)

Coordinates

37.8391, -81.9792

Aircraft

Lake LA-4-200

Registration

N12SF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aiken → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00LA205

Nobody was injured.

Fuel exhaustion of the engine due to improper fuel consumption calculations performed by the pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed at 1130 for a cross-country flight with 40 gallons of fuel on board. He anticipated that the flight would take 3 hours, and he had 4 hours of fuel on board. During the flight, the pilot had to divert around his planned route for inclement weather. When he was about 1 mile from the airport, he entered the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and the engine lost power. The pilot determined he could not make it to the runway and landed on an adjacent road, at 1450. The pilot reported that the fuel gauge read empty while on the approach. Examination of the airplane revealed the fuel tank was completely dry. In addition, no fuel was found in the fuel lines or the fuel flow divider. When 4 gallons of fuel was added to the airplane, the engine started without hesitation and ran continuously.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.