Goudie FISHER CLASSIC N417LG

Summary

On 3 March 2015 at about 20:15 local time, a Goudie FISHER CLASSIC registered N417LG, operated by Goudie Lawrence A, was involved in an accident near Redlands, California, 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

3 March 2015 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Redlands, California, United States

Coordinates

34.0844, -117.1411

Aircraft

Goudie FISHER CLASSIC

Registration

N417LG

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Goudie Lawrence A

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Redlands → Redlands

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15LA123

1 person had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate planning for the test flight, which resulted in insufficient altitude and no suitable place to land in the event of an emergency.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to determine how much unusable fuel was in the experimental amateur-built airplane's fuel tanks. The airplane took off with a full header tank and only 1 gallon of fuel in each wing tank. After takeoff, the pilot climbed the airplane to about 3,500 ft, and, about 3 miles from the airport, he switched from the header tank to the right fuel tank. Shortly after, the engine suddenly stopped, and the propeller stopped turning. The pilot quickly switched back to the header tank. Since the airplane was not equipped with a starter, the pilot initiated a dive to attempt to get the propeller spinning but was unsuccessful; he could not restart the engine. The pilot leveled the airplane to attain its best glide speed and proceeded toward a road. He subsequently landed the airplane on a rocky riverbank short of the road. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot further reported that he should have considered the possibility that the engine might stop and that he should have flown the airplane at a higher altitude and remained closer to the airport where he could have made a dead-stick landing if necessary.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.