Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West, Texas 77801
Saturday, August 3, 2002 17:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot purchased the single-place airplane on the day of the accident and was briefed by the previous owner that the airplane burned 8-10 gallons of fuel per hour. The main fuel tank (16 gallons) was topped off and the pilot elected to not fill the auxiliary fuel tank (8 gallons), in order to remain within the airplane's weight and balance limitations. The pilot spent approximately 5-10 minutes taxiing the airplane and performing the pre-takeoff engine run-up. At 1620, the flight departed for a 64 nautical mile flight, and arrived at 1710. The pilot intended on landing at the municipal airport; however, upon landing, the pilot realized that he had landed at an abandoned airstrip used by agricultural operators, located 2 miles southwest of the municipal airport. There were no fuel services available at the airstrip, and the pilot noted that the airplane's fuel gauge indicated 8 gallons. The pilot elected to depart and fly to another airport 27 miles south to re-fuel, rather than traveling back north to the municipal airport. The pilot estimated that the he was on the ground approximately 5-10 minutes prior to departing. The flight departed and 15 minutes later, when the airplane was in cruise flight at 2,500 feet, the engine began sputtering and then lost power. The fuel gauge indicated that 1/2 tank of fuel remained at the time the engine lost power. The pilot noted a high sink rate and lowered the nose, while simultaneously banking to the right to avoid obstructions. Subsequently, the airplane entered a spin to the right before impacting a grass field. The fuel system was compromised during the accident. The fuel system contained only residual fuel and there was no evidence of fuel at the accident site.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight/planning inspection which resulted in fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | West |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77801 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314632N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0970756W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1751 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ACT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 516 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3092 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2002 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11S |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA225 |
| 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 | Southworth |
| Aircraft Model | EAA Bi-Plane May Bee |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | JS-1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1235 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 599 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jerry D. Pockrus |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9984 Clark Airfield Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Justin |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76247 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Hillsboro |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ACT |
| Destination City | Waco |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SNYG |
| 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 | -- |