Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wentzville, Missouri 63385
Thursday, November 15, 2001 18:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed when it impacted the side of a ravine during a forced landing following a loss of engine power at night. Witnesses described the airplane in a steep descent angle prior to impacting the ground. One witness reported seeing the airplane flying in a westerly direction. The witness said that she, "... thought it was strange because there was no engine noise at all." She further stated that the airplane, "...was going steady and all of a sudden the plane just fell out of the sky. There was no gradual [descent] it just fell." Another witness reported that the airplane was at a low altitude with the engine "sputtering". The witness reported that just prior to impact he heard the airplane, "...go to full power." The pilot had accumulated 6.6 hours of flight time since receiving his private pilot certificate on August 27, 2001. The pilot purchased the airplane on November 9, 2001. Witness statements indicate that the pilot flew the airplane on November 11, 2001, and the airplane was fully fueled prior to that flight. No records of subsequent fueling of the airplane were found. A witness reported that, prior to the accident flight, he assisted the pilot in starting the engine because the airplane master switch had been left on. The witness reported that he also performed a pre-flight inspection of the airplane and noted that the left fuel tank contained less than 1/4 tank of fuel, and the right fuel tank had 3/4 tank of fuel. He said that he positioned the selector valve for the left tank and informed the pilot. An "Airplane Log" recovered from the accident scene contains an entry for a 2.3 hour flight on November 11, 2001. The entry lists an ending tachometer reading of 738.70 hours. The recording tachometer reading at the accident site was 739.9 hours. The fuel selector was found positioned for the right fuel tank. The fuel hoses leading from the fuel tanks to the selector valve were cut during the investigation and any remaining liquid collected. About one ounce of a blue colored liquid was drained from the fuel hose leading from the right fuel tank to the selector valve. No liquid was found within the fuel hose leading from the left fuel tank to the selector valve. No other anomalies were found, with respect to the airplane, engine or systems, that were determined to exist prior to impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper selection of the fuel selector which resulted in fuel starvation and subsequent engine failure. Factors were the unsuitable terrain for the forced landing encountered by the pilot and the night light condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1845 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Wentzville |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63385 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 1754 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 463 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12735 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 15 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Saint Louis, Missouri |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N33ZA |
| NTSB Number | CHI02FA033 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Zenair |
| Aircraft Model | CH2000 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 200033 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1606 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 4 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 88.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 739.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mark Ghafoori |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 Ghafoori Ln. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wentzville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63385 |
| 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 | 1H0 |
| Departure City | Saint Louis |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1740 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2002 12:44PM |
| 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 | -- |