Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newaygo, Michigan 49337
Thursday, August 23, 2001 18:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a loss of engine power while in cruise flight and the pilot performed a forced landing into a forested area. Witnesses reported the aircraft was experiencing engine difficulties prior to and during the collision with the trees and terrain. Approximately 12 gallons of uncontaminated aviation fuel was drained from the main fuel system. The fuel supply line, forward of the firewall, was disconnected and no fuel drained from the line. The fuel selector, located on the fuselage floor between the two pilot seats, was found approximately halfway between the "AUX" and "OFF" positions. When the electric fuel pump was operated the fuel delivery was limited and sporadic with the fuel selector positioned as found. With the fuel selector positioned on "AUX" or "MAIN" the fuel delivery increased significantly and remained constant. There was no fuel flow with the fuel selector positioned on "OFF." The fuel selector was repositioned in-between "AUX" and "OFF" and fuel delivery was again limited and sporadic. No anomalies were found with the engine or its accessories that could be associated with a pre-impact condition that would have prevented the normal operation of the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot inadvertently positioning the fuel selector in an intermediate position, resulting in a loss of engine power. An additional cause was the pilot's failure to verify the fuel selector position during the engine restart attempt. Factors to the accident include the restricted fuel flow, fuel starvation, and the presence of trees during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1840 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Newaygo |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49337 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 432705N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0854328W |
| 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 | 1836 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 34 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RQB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 990 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2629 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KRQB 232236Z AUTO 01004KT 10SM CLR 28/16 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14158 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2124 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA, Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1017B |
| NTSB Number | CHI01FA290 |
| 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 | Navion |
| Aircraft Model | L-17B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NAV-4-1668 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 18 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.66 |
| Airframe Hours | 1281.66 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Herbert Walter Doege |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1799 East Van Buren Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | White Cloud |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49349 |
| 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 | 13C |
| Departure City | Lakeview |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3FM |
| Destination City | Fremont |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 8 2003 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |