Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Saticoy, California 93004
Friday, November 7, 2003 15:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane traversed through a small stream, collided with a berm, and nosed over during a forced landing in a dry riverbed following a loss of engine power. Witnesses heard the airplane flying overhead before the crash and reported that the engine was sputtering. No fuel was found in the airplane's fuel tanks during recovery of the airplane from the accident site. During the engine examination, a B-nut for the carburetor fuel inlet line was discovered loose at its attach point. Fuel staining was evident on the fuel line fitting, the fuel line itself, and the airbox situated directly below the fuel line. An internal examination of the engine was conducted, with no obvious mechanical anomalies found. The B-nut was indexed so that it's position could be re established, then it was tightened to facilitate an engine ground run. The engine started and ran normally, both with and without the electric fuel pump, during the ground run. The B-nut was loosened to its original position. The electric boost pump was activated, with copious amount of fuel leaking out of the loose fuel line fitting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of a loose B-nut fitting for the carburetor fuel inlet line, which allowed fuel to leak out.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Saticoy |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93004 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1190902W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 20582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2006 8:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N102RC |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA038 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cathaway |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 101.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Russ G. Cathaway |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ventura |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93004 |
| 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 | SZP |
| Departure City | Santa Paula |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SZP |
| 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 | Aug 28 2006 11:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |