Schumacher SWEARINGEN SX-300 N2H

Summary

On 4 June 2000 at about 18:23 local time, a Schumacher SWEARINGEN SX-300 registered N2H was involved in an accident near Richfield, Utah, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 June 2000 at 18:23

Classification

Accident

Location

Richfield, Utah, United States

Coordinates

38.7491, -112.1003

Aircraft

Schumacher SWEARINGEN SX-300

Registration

N2H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salt Lake City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00LA101

1 person had minor injuries.

Fuel starvation due to the unavailability of fuel to the engine for undetermined reasons and the pilot's misjudgment of distance/altitude on final approach. Contributing factors were the pilot's premature gear extension and the berm.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While on downwind abeam the airport, the engine lost all power. The pilot switched from the left to the right fuel tank and turned on the boost pump. He said he could hear the electric boost pump running. With the propeller windmilling, the engine would not start, nor would it start when the pilot set the mixture to full rich and opened the throttle fully. The pilot attempted to land on the runway. When he thought he could glide to the runway, he lowered the landing gear. Aerodynamic drag dissipated what little airspeed remained, and the airplane touched down short of the runway. During the rollout, the airplane struck a raised road berm. Post-accident examination revealed an empty left tank and 17 gallons of fuel in the right tank. When the boost pump was activated, fuel flowed to the engine fuel control unit. The pilot reported that he had run fuel tanks empty before, but the engine always restarted after the fuel selector was switched to a tank containing fuel and the boost pump was switched on. The boost pump is mounted on the firewall about 6 inches above the fuel tank and about 2 inches below the engine-driven fuel pump. Blueprints show the boost pump being mounted in the area of the nose wheel well. Other builders of this airplane have installed a pulse pump at the fuel selector valve location because of possible fuel starvation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.