Scott Field (Private) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Crawford, Texas 76638
Saturday, April 28, 2001 18:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The amateur-built experimental airplane had not been flown for a period of time. During the preflight, at the owner's direction, the old fuel was drained. Subsequently, nine gallons of fuel were put in the aircraft. No discrepancies were noted during the runup and pretakeoff taxi. During the takeoff/initial climb, when the pilot banked the airplane to the right the engine "stopped running." The airplane was 150-200 feet agl and there were a building and trees in the forced landing flight path. The pilot turned the airplane left for landing in a corn field; however, as he flared the airplane, he "felt a tremendous sink rate, then the impact." The airplane flipped to the inverted position. The aircraft owner reported that "air blocked the line to the header fuel tank."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power on takeoff initial climb due to fuel starvation as a result of an air blocked fuel line. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/28/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Crawford
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76638
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Scott Field (Private)
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 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 500
Weather Briefing Completeness --
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 --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10676
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 28 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1943
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Oct 9 2001 3:21PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N142LP
NTSB Number FTW01LA110
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 Perlick
Aircraft Model Avid Commuter
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 849
Certified Max Gross Weight 850
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 131
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kenneth P. Grisham
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4848 Baylor Camp Road
Aircraft Owner City Crawford
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76638
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Darwin Sonders
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 930 Ivan
Operator City Waco
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 76706
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Crawford
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Sep 21 2001 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record MORJU
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 2000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --