Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77084
Thursday, February 27, 1997 19:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The homebuilt airplane impacted the ground after experiencing a total loss of engine power while in cruise flight at night. The private pilot had accumulated 8 hours in the airplane since purchasing it on 1/3/97. On the afternoon of the accident, the pilot obtained forecasts for a planned flight to San Angelo. The forecast was for prevailing IMC for the next few days. The pilot topped off the 20 gallon system with 16 gallons of 100LL fuel, executed touch-and-go landings for 30 minutes, and returned to the FBO. The pilot then discussed his plans with an FBO employee, finally telling the employee that he was not going to San Angelo because his airplane was not equipped with instrument or cockpit lights. The pilot later changed his mind and departed on the 299 mile night cross country flight. About 10 minutes later, while leveled at 3,500 feet the pilot reported a loss of engine power. No fuel was found in the header tank, fuel lines or carburetor. A few drops of fuel were found in the fuel filter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as result of the pilot's improper fuel management. Factors were the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane, the dark night, the lack of cockpit lights, and the lack of suitable terrain for the pilot to execute a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/27/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1945 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | HOUSTON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77084 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 55 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 98 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 382 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 27 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2110 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N89WL |
| NTSB Number | FTW97FA109 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | KEATING |
| Aircraft Model | QUICKIE II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | QUICKIE II |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2820 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TROY D. LEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2610 LINDERWOOD ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANGELO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76904 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | T41 |
| Departure City | LAPORTE |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1935 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SJT |
| Destination City | SAN ANGELO |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |