Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buckley, Washington 98321
Monday, July 19, 2004 10:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that shortly after takeoff to the south, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to briefly trouble shoot the problem, but due to the lack of altitude opted to commit to an off airport landing to an open field. In an attempt to avoid trees and maneuver to the field, the pilot reported that the aircraft stalled. The pilot's son reported to investigators that his father stated that "I knew I had exhausted the left tank the night before. I just forgot to switch to the fullest tank that day." The pilot reported that he had departed with the left fuel tank selected. Inspection of the engine determined that no mechanical failure or malfunction of the engine was noted. The right fuel tank had been compromised and fuel stains were present. It could not be determined if the left fuel tank had been compromised, however, no fuel stains were noted. No fuel was observed when the fuel sumps on either tank were opened. No fuel was present in the fuel gascolator or fuel bowl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation during the initial climb after takeoff. The pilot's failure to select the proper fuel tank before takeoff and to maintain airspeed during the forced landing resulting in a hard landing were factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/19/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1005 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Buckley |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98321 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 470918N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220519W |
| 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 | 956 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 317 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 433 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16631 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 19 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1051 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N901ER |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA137 |
| 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 | Root |
| Aircraft Model | RV-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1620 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 15 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 875 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Earl S. Root |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Buckley |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98321 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Buckley |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1S0 |
| Destination City | Puyallup |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 24 2004 6:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |