Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oxford, Ohio 45046
Thursday, September 5, 2002 21:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a night flight, the airplane lost total engine power shortly after departure, about 15 miles from the airport. The pilot initially elected to divert to another airport 3 miles away and 2,500 feet below; however, he subsequently decided to land on a road after not being able to see the runway lights. During the landing, the airplane bounced five or six times, struck a sign, veered off the road and nosed over. The pilot had replaced the fuel gauge about 1 week prior to the accident. He had difficulty calibrating the new fuel gauge, and received assistance telephonically from the manufacturer during the calibration. The pilot believed that he had taken off with about 1/2 tank of fuel onboard. An examination of the airplane after the accident revealed that the fuel tanks were empty; however, the fuel gauge indicated 8 gallons. The source of the fuel inaccuracy was undetermined. The airplane had accumulated 11.4 hours of flight time since installation of the fuel gauge. The pilot filled the fuel tanks at 47.0 flight hours, and lost total engine power at 50.9 flight hours. A "must read" notice in the fuel gauge operating manual stated: "Do not solely rely on the FL-2 to determine the fuel level in the fuel tanks."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a subsequent total loss of engine power. Factors included an inaccurate fuel gauge indication for undetermined reasons, the pilot's reliance on that indication, the night lighting conditions, and a sign alongside the forced landing road.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/5/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2137 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Oxford |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45046 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0844700W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CVG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 897 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 55 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| 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) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14981 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Great Lakes Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cincinnati |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N945D |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA182 |
| 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 | Duffy |
| Aircraft Model | Vans RV-9A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 90011 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 50.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William J. Duffy |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cincinnati |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45251 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OXD |
| Departure City | Oxford |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2003 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |