Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15226
Wednesday, May 17, 2000 11:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was attempting to ferry the airplane for friends, who had just purchased it. During the preflight, he checked the fuel, and drained the gascolater for water, but found none. He performed engine checks, and taxi-tested the airplane on the runway several times. He then took off and flew around the airport, then headed toward his destination. Fifteen minutes into the flight, with fuel coming from the left tank, the engine quit. The pilot switched to the right tank, and nothing happened. He pumped the throttle, and the engine ran for about 10 seconds and quit again. He confirmed that the fuel selector was in the detent, then applied carburetor heat. The engine started momentarily, then quit once more, and the pilot performed a forced landing to a grassy field. Upon touchdown, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. During post-accident examination, less than 1 gallon of fuel could be drained from the left fuel tank, and the fuel could not be turned off until all fuel was gone from the left tank. An FAA inspector subsequently ran the engine with fuel supplied from the right tank. He also noted that only one header tank was installed, the fuel valve was close to the floor, and the fuel lines were small. The pilot had less than 1 hour of flight time in make and model
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management which resulted in the loss of power, and his improper flare during the forced landing, which resulted in a hard landing. Factors included a restricted fuel supply due to a design flaw in the header tank/fuel valve/supply line combination, and the pilot's lack of experience in airplane make and model.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | PITTSBURGH |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15226 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1151 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1200 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 401 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N218MA |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA137 |
| 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 | Anderson Aircraft Corp. |
| Aircraft Model | MA-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | MA-18 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEONARD M PATTERSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW CASTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STEPHEN WALTROWSKI |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | FINLEYVILLE |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 15332 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | ELLWOOD CITY |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | G05 |
| Destination City | FINLEYVILLE |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 10 2002 3:30PM |
| 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 | -- |