Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Independence State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Independence, Oregon 97351
Sunday, May 7, 2000 8:01 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Approximately 100 feet above ground level the engine of the pilot/builder assembled RV-8 kit-plane began to run rough. The pilot made a left 90 degree turn to return to land during which all power was lost. He then turned back right and landed hard, collapsing the landing gear. Fueling records revealed approximately 10 gallons of fuel in the right tank per the pilot's estimate. Post-crash examination revealed that the fuel pick-up tube within the right tank had become mis-positioned (twisted) approximately 180 degrees, placing the tube pick-up end at the mid-level of the 21 gallon tank, and resulting in fuel starvation. The pilot had done maintenance on the right tank several weeks earlier including tightening a hex nut which retained the 90-degree elbow fitting holding the pick-up tube in place. Tightening of the hex nut without an anti-rotation bracket could rotate the pick-up tube into a mis-position. The aircraft design and construction predated the dissemination of design plans containing the anti-rotation bracket, and the manufacturer had not issued any notice of the bracket specifications to the pilot/builder. The pilot/builder, unaware of the specifications, had not installed the bracket in the right fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The rotation of the right fuel tank elbow fitting within the tank during previous maintenance. The improper alignment resulted in the fuel pick-up tube being mis-positioned and a subsequent starvation of fuel to the engine. Contributing factors were the non-installation of an anti-rotation bracket to secure the elbow fitting, the kit manufacturer's failure to issue a notice of the bracket design to previous aircraft owners, and the pilot's not establishing/maintaining a proper rate of descent resulting in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/7/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 801 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | INDEPENDENCE |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97351 |
| 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 | INDEPENDENCE STATE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 7S5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 176 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 58 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 214 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| 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) | 767 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SEA FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 907 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N998TT |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA084 |
| 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 | Oveross |
| Aircraft Model | VANS RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | VANS RV-8 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 80326 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Jul 31 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 231 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | OVEROSS, JAMES, A. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 241 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GLENEDEN BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97388 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 7S5 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 3070 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |