Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Roche Harbor, Washington 98250
Sunday, September 28, 2003 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he departed with a full load of fuel (22 gallons) and flew approximately 50 nautical miles to his destination. He parked the aircraft on a slope with the right wing lower than the left and returned to the aircraft two hours later to find the right wing tank full and the "presence" of gas in the left tank and no evidence of fuel leakage. He reported that the 65 horsepower Rotax engine consumed about 5 gallons/hour and that he anticipated the fuel equalizing between the two tanks after his departure. Shortly after takeoff the pilot noted that the fuel was not equalizing between the two tanks and decided to divert. The engine ceased operating shortly thereafter and, after attempts to trouble shoot and restart were unsuccessful, he ditched the aircraft near the shore. The pilot reported that upon beaching the aircraft the right wing was observed to have about 15 gallons of fuel including some water. The fuel selector was a simple "ON-OFF" control and the valve was found open by an FAA inspector who examined the aircraft after its recovery. The inspector found no evidence of any water related pre-impact mechanical malfunction within the engine, and reported finding both carburetor bowls filled with auto gas with one or two drops of water in each.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A complete loss of power due to fuel starvation for undetermined reason(s).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Roche Harbor |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98250 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483501N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1230326W |
| 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 | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 142 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15592 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| 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 | N6611 |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA197 |
| 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 | Thompson |
| Aircraft Model | Avid Flyer |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 209 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 237 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tatham, Mark D. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Woodinville |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98072 |
| 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 | WA09 |
| Departure City | Roche Harbor |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1350 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S43 |
| Destination City | Snohomish |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 2:33PM |
| 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 | -- |