Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kirkland, Washington 98034
Friday, December 22, 2000 10:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while in cruise flight at 1,800 feet, operating on the approximately 1/3 full center tank (note: the front tank was full and the rear tank was nearly empty), the aircraft's engine shut down. The pilot switched to the front tank and after about 10 to 15 seconds, the engine restarted. The engine ran smoothly for 15 to 20 seconds, then shut down again, with the fuel pressure reading zero. The pilot attempted to use the hand-operated wobble pump to restore fuel pressure, but was not successful. The pilot then performed a forced landing on what appeared to him to be the only suitable landing area, a high school football/baseball field. The pilot stated that he skidded across the wet field and hit a 10- to 12-foot-high chain link fence straight on at about 30 to 35 MPH. An FAA inspector reported that in a post-accident examination, anomalies with the fuel selector valve's operation were noted, namely, that "The selector valve was found to be able to aspirate to an empty tank in two different ways." The first condition was that "Using the wobble pump to create a suction in the supply-side line, slight inward pressure on the center of the valve would unseat the valve and the prime would be instantly lost. It would be impossible to recover unless the valve was allowed to resume its' [sic] original position." Second, the inspector reported that "With this particular valve it was possible to create enough suction in the selected off position, or in between position, to unseat the valve and cause aspiration to occur." The inspector stated that the condition was repeatable (to a lesser degree) with a newly overhauled valve.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A malfunction of the aircraft's fuel selector valve and subsequent fuel starvation. Factors included a short emergency landing area, a wet landing surface, and a fence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Kirkland |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98034 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 474306N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221154W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 135 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10468 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 7 2001 7:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Renton, WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2502 |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-2 Mk. I |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 522 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5090 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 4 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 10166 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dylan Bay Charter Co. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1411 Fourth Ave. Suite 1430 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Seattle |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 981012216 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Scott Spengler |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2902 Lake Washington Blvd. N. |
| Operator City | Renton |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98056 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | PAE |
| Departure City | Everett |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RNT |
| Destination City | Renton |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 10 2002 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |