Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Shell Lake, Wisconsin 54871
Friday, August 3, 2001 20:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A witness reported that the airplane's engine was "sputtering" and saw the airplane execute a forced landing to an open field. The first responder to the scene reported that there was no fuel in the fuel tank and there was not a strong smell of fuel at the accident site. The first responder reported that the fuel tank had to be removed in order to remove the pilot and no fuel was drained from it. No anomalies were found with the airplane or its engine that could be associated with any pre-impact condition.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation and the misjudged flare that resulted in a hard landing. A factor to the accident was the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/3/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2030
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Shell Lake
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 54871
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2036 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 162
Weather Observation Facility ID RPD
Elevation of weather observation facility 1105
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
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) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) 2544
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KRPD 040136Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 26/22 A30
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 --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12579
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 3 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2214
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 16 2003 4:27PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA, Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N333GE
NTSB Number CHI01LA276
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 Efaw
Aircraft Model Casutt Sport Racer
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 31769
Certified Max Gross Weight 763
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name George David Efaw
Aircraft Owner Street Address 8370 Sunset Road
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55432
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 --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 7 2002 11:34AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --