Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Omaha, Nebraska 68101
Saturday, August 10, 2002 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a bean field after a partial loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot reported he was flying at 2,400 feet mean sea level when the engine began to run sporadically with large fuel pressure fluctuations. Attempts to restore engine power failed and the pilot executed a forced landing. The inspection of the airplane's flight controls and engine controls revealed continuity with no anomalies. The inspection revealed that the engine driven fuel pump, throttle body, fuel nozzles, fuel flow divider, electric fuel pump, and the magnetos were in good operating condition. A fuel sample was tested and it tested in the normal range with no contamination. During the inspection of the fuel system, approximately one and a half gallons were drained from the quick drain at the bottom of the fuselage before the fuel "slowed to a dribble." The inspection revealed that two drilled-out rivet heads were restricting the fuel line between the main fuel tank and the header tank. Approximately 19 gallons of fuel were drained from the main fuel tank. The inspection revealed that the tank did not have a finger screen installed at the outlet port. The two drilled out rivet heads found in the fuel line had not been used in the construction of the fuel tank and were foreign to the fuel system. The engine was removed from the airframe for an engine run. The engine operated normally at idle power and at full power during the engine run.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of a restricted fuel line, and the unsuitable terrain for landing encountered by the pilot. A contributing factor was the bean field.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Omaha |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68101 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411145N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0960644W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14419 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| 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-Lincoln FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98TW |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA242 |
| 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 | Rare Aircraft |
| Aircraft Model | WACO T-10 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2502 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 30 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William L. Gottenberg |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6416 S. 170th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Omaha |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68135 |
| 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 | MLE |
| Departure City | Omaha |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AHQ |
| Destination City | Wahoo |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 16 2003 8:28AM |
| 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 | -- |