Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waldorf, Maryland 20601
Monday, July 16, 2001 18:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departing on the accident flight, the pilot fueled the airplane with fuel cans that he had in the garage; however, he could not recall how old the fuel was, or when the last fueling of the airplane took place. The pilot estimated that the wing tanks were filled "half way" prior to the fueling. After departure, while in cruise flight, the pilot turned the airplane, and the engine suddenly lost all power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a construction site, and the airplane touched down hard, coming to rest upright. The fuel tanks were not equipped with fuel sump drains, and the only means of assuring the fuel was absent of contamination, was a sump drain located on the manifold, which provided fuel to the engine. According to a representative of the airplane kit manufacturer, the kit was produced with two flat fuel tanks, which included withdrawal points located on the front and back of the tanks. Fuel lines from both wing tanks were then routed to a "mixer block," which was located about 2 feet below the tanks. A valve, located on the "mixer block," enabled the pilot to drain fuel and check for contamination. The representative added that it was at the discretion of the kit builder to install sump drains at the low point of the wing fuel tanks, and they did not provide any guidance on preflight procedures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel contamination. A factor related to the accident was the builder’s decision to not install fuel tank drains.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/16/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waldorf |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20601 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 1855 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ADW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 280 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 22000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11881 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2002 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-27 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40R |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA177 |
| 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 | Raum |
| Aircraft Model | Rans S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0891117 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| 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 | Feb 6 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 56 |
| Airframe Hours | 630 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph D. Harab |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Laurel |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20707 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | W18 |
| Departure City | Laurel |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | UY |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Waldorf |
| Destination State | MD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 8 2002 11:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |