Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dalton, Massachusetts 01226
Wednesday, December 4, 2002 13:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight, on the third and final leg of a trip, the engine lost all power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a field, and the airplane struck uneven terrain. Examination of the engine revealed a frozen liquid in the gascolator, consistent with water. The pilot reported that prior to the trip, he fueled the airplane with "an old batch" of 80/87 aviation gasoline. The airplane then remained parked in a leaky hangar for approximately 1 month. Before his initial departure, the pilot sumped both wing tanks and the engine sump, but did not observe any water. However, the pilot added that the temperature was very cold, and he believed that water in the fuel tanks had frozen and risen to the surface. During the second leg of the trip, the pilot stopped at an airport and added 5 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline. He also sumped the tanks after that fueling, and did not observe any water. The reported temperature near the accident site was 22 degrees F.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the aircraft, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel contamination. A factor was the cold air temperature.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/4/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Dalton |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01226 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0731150W |
| 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 | 1254 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1194 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | -6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.31 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13519 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NERCC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 5 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks, CT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-FXJK |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA028 |
| 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 | Ercoupe |
| Aircraft Model | 415-CD |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4666 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1260 |
| 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 | Aug 6 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 2400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mark Kisilius |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Brockville, Ontario |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | GFL |
| Departure City | Glens Falls |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3B9 |
| Destination City | Chester |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2003 10:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| 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 | -- |