Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flying B Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vail, Washington 98576
Saturday, June 28, 2003 21:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed the private airstrip the morning after the proprietary runway lights had been disabled due to vandalism. He flew 1.8 hours to attend a family reunion and then departed shortly after 1930 back to his point of origination. The aircraft crashed at 2155. A relative familiar with the aircraft reported that the fuel consumption was about 8 gallons per hour and the aircraft was equipped with two 16 gallon wing tanks. There was no evidence that the pilot acquired any fuel after departing and no record of refueling for the return flight. The aircraft, which was observed flying westbound, crashed 3 miles south-southwest of the destination airstrip. Post crash examination revealed less than an ounce of fuel in the aircraft's fuel lines. The sun was approximately -7 degrees below the horizon at the time of the accident (dusk). The aircraft was observed to touch down in a 1,000 foot long open field of high grass overlying slightly rough terrain, roll a short distance and then nose over. Examination of the aircraft revealed that the standard roll bar aft of the forward pilot's seat had been replaced with a significantly lower roll bar.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion. Contributing factors were the non-operating (vandalized) runway lights, the pilot's delayed departure to his destination, dusk light conditions, rough/uneven terrain and high vegetation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2155 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vail |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98576 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 465125N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223927W |
| Event Location Airport | Flying B |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8WA0 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 220 |
| Airport Elevation | 445 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2154 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OLM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 206 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15241 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2222 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Renton FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6596X |
| NTSB Number | SEA03FA121 |
| 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 | Lamb (Vans) |
| Aircraft Model | RV-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 693 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | Lamb, Clifford L. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Warren |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97053 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Lamb, Clifford L. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Yelm |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98597 |
| 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 | S80 |
| Departure City | Grangeville |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 8WA0 |
| Destination City | Yelm |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2004 4:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |