First Flight Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina 27948
Thursday, June 7, 2001 15:32 EDT

The fuel tanks were fueled the night before the accident date and were confirmed to be full during a preflight the morning of the accident date. The airplane was then repositioned and flown on 10 sightseeing flights by a company pilot other than the accident pilot, all with the mixture full rich. The fuel quantity gauges indicated decreasing quantity of fuel during the flights and the gauges indicated more than 1/2, and less then 1/4 respectively sometime during the last flight. The accident pilot relieved the pilot who had flown the 10 sightseeing flights, at that time the airplane had been operated for 3.75 hours since fueling. The accident pilot reported he visually checked the fuel tanks though all the adult passengers stated he did not. The flight departed and at 200 feet msl, the pilot later stated that the engine quit when he reduced power to 25 inches manifold pressure. He maneuvered the airplane for a forced landing in a field, and touched down with full flaps at an indicated airspeed of 80 knots. The airplane touched down, the nose landing gear separated from the airplane, and the airplane then collided with a 6-8 feet high sand dune. The airplane came to rest inverted on top of the sand dune. Examination of the fuel lines at the fuel selector valve, at each reservoir fuel tank, and at the fuel control unit revealed no fuel. No fuel was found in the auxiliary fuel pump, engine driven fuel pump, or reservoir tanks. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right fuel tank which was calculated to contain 7 gallons of fuel; the unusable amount of fuel in the tank is 3.5 gallons. The engine was placed on a test stand, impact damaged components were replaced or repaired and the engine was started and found to operate normally, no discrepancies were noted. Testing of the fuel gauges revealed they were operative. Testing of the fuel transmitters revealed several discrepancies. The average fuel consumption over a 9-day period was 15.14 gallons per hour; the airplane had been operated for 3.79 hours since fueling at the time of the accident. The operator had a procedure in place that required the pilot to dip the tanks during preflight and the chief pilot to randomly dip the tanks during the day; the pilot did not dip the tank before the flight and the chief pilot did not randomly dip the tanks throughout the day. The dipstick used to dip the tanks was in fact a wooden paint stirrer with a "full" mark annotated. No graduate marks beneath the full mark was noted. The Service Manual indicates that the fuel quantity indicators and transmitters are required to be checked every 50 hours and also during a complete inspection of the airplane. The airplane was inspected last on May 11, 2001, using an approved checklist that consisted of the inspection chart found in the Service Manual. The airplane had accumulated 48 hours since the inspection at the time of the accident.

The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation for undetermined reasons resulting in the forced landing and subsequent on-ground collision with a sand dune with a resulting nose over. A factor in the accident was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.