Schultz LANCAIR IV-P N424E

Summary

On 16 June 2001 at about 23:25 local time, a Schultz LANCAIR IV-P registered N424E was involved in an accident near Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 June 2001 at 23:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Flagstaff, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Flagstaff Pulliam (FLG)

Coordinates

35.1644, -111.6392

Aircraft

Schultz LANCAIR IV-P

Registration

N424E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ada → Flagstaff

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01FA212

1 person died.

the builder's failure to install a fuel compartment vent in the right wing, affecting the total available fuel capacity, and resulting in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. A contributing factor was the pilot's intentional flight with a known inoperative fuel gauging system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The homebuilt experimental airplane was approaching its destination airport after a cross country flight of 3 hours 12 minutes duration when it lost engine power. The airline transport pilot reported to air traffic control that he was not going to make it to the airport and was going to crash. The airplane impacted trees and terrain about 2 miles from the airport. The FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, reported the right fuel tank was empty, the left fuel tank was compromised by impact damage, and the fuel selector was on the left tank. A post accident examination of the engine revealed no preaccident anomalies. Examination of the right wing fuel tank revealed that a required fuel vent was not drilled into the spar. According to the builder of another experimental airplane of this design, the lack of the vent would have made filling the tank problematic as the affected section of the tank had no way to vent, and therefore, it would have been difficult to completely fill the tank, and there would have been no way to confirm how much fuel was in the tank. The owner of the airplane reported he had previously experienced problems getting the fuel tanks to accept the total designed fuel capacity of 80 gallons; however, he and the pilot believed this problem had been fixed. Additionally, a few days prior to the accident, the pilot had taken the airplane to a maintenance facility to correct several discrepancies, one of which was "problems with the fuel quantity indicating system." A mechanic reported that the pilot told him he had been flying for several weeks with neither of the fuel quantity indicators working properly. After examining the airplane, the mechanic told the pilot that the airplane's right fuel quantity sender was not calibrated properly and the left fuel quantity sender was defective and would have to be replaced. The pilot elected to defer the repairs to the fuel quantity indicating system until he arrived at his final destination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.