Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chavies, Kentucky 41727
Sunday, July 11, 1993 17:42 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT MADE A RIGHT TURN INTO A HOLLOW BETWEEN RISING TERRAIN. HE REALIZED THAT THE AIRPLANE COULD NOT ATTAIN A CLIMB RATE NEEDED TO CLEAR THE TERRAIN, SO HE MADE A STEEP TURN. DURING THE TURN, THE AIRPLANE'S ENGINE LOST PARTIAL POWER. DURING A FORCED LANDING, THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED A CREEK BANK AND WAS DAMAGED. THE PILOT STATED THAT THERE WAS ABOUT 6 GALLONS OF FUEL ON BOARD FOR THE FIVE MILE FLIGHT. THE FUEL CAPACITY OF THE AIRPLANE WAS 23 GALLONS. POST ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE AIRFRAME AND ENGINE DID NOT REVEAL ANY ANOMALIES. THE FUEL TANK WAS RUPTURED AND EMPTY. THE FUEL LINE FROM THE FUEL PUMP TO THE INJECTION SERVO CONTAINED THREE TO FOUR DROPS OF FUEL. THE FUEL LINE FROM THE SERVO TO THE FLOW DIVIDER CONTAINED ENOUGH FUEL TO FILL HALF OF THE LINE. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS MODELED VERY CLOSELY AFTER A 2 SEAT PITTS SPECIAL, WHICH WAS PLACARDED TO RESTRICT TAKEOFFS WITH LESS THAN 1/4 TANK OF FUEL DUE TO POSSIBLE FUEL STARVATION INDUCED BY ATTITUDE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FUEL STARVATION DUE TO THE PILOT'S IMPROPER DECISION TO TAKE OFF WITH A LOW FUEL LEVEL. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE LOW FUEL LEVEL, THE PILOT'S LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FUEL SYSTEM, AND THE UNEVEN TERRAIN IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1742 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHAVIES |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 41727 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1751 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JKL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1382 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 714 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 11 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 50668 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N485MH |
| NTSB Number | BFO93LA117 |
| 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 | HOLMES |
| Aircraft Model | SPECIAL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SPECIAL |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Oct 20 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 60 |
| Airframe Hours | 150 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STEPHEN L. SMITH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT 1 BOX 193 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILLIAMSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30292 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STEPHEN L. SMITH |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | RT 1 BOX 193 |
| Operator City | WILLIAMSON |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 30292 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | DUFF FIELD |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | K20 |
| Destination City | HAZARD |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |