Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Snohomish Co/Paine Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Everett, Washington 98201
Saturday, June 8, 1996 17:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an approach to land, the engine lost power on base leg. Subsequently, the pilot landed short of the airport runway, and the aircraft struck trees. The pilot reported that he took off with 22 to 24 gallons of fuel and flew for 30 minutes before the accident at an estimated 5.5 to 6.5 gallon per hour burn rate; a fuel slip indicated the aircraft received 6.3 gallons of fuel before the flight. FAA investigators found 2 to 2 1/2 inches of fuel in the bottom of the main tank forward compartment and no fuel in the main tank rear compartment. Also, they found no mechanical problems with the engine. Fire department personnel switched the aircraft's fuel selector valve from 'MR' (main rear) to 'OFF' at the accident scene. The experimental aircraft was not equipped with fuel gauges. No evidence of a current biennial flight review, aircraft condition inspection, or medical certificate was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation. The aircraft's lack of a fuel quantity gauge and trees in the forced landing area were related factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | EVERETT |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98201 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SNOHOMISH CO/PAINE FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 160 |
| Airport Elevation | 606 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 606 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1359 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 8 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1951 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7BH |
| NTSB Number | SEA96LA117 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Head |
| Aircraft Model | PITTS S-1C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PITTS S-1C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | BH-1-PS1C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLARD & PATRICIA GETTLE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 SOUTH MAIZE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WICHITA |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67209 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GEORGE S. HARRINGTON |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1102 MCGILVRA BLVD E. |
| Operator City | SEATTLE |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 98112 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAE |
| Departure City | EVERETT |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34L |
| Runway Length | 9010 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |