Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chewelah, Washington 99109
Friday, September 3, 2004 12:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Both the pilot and pilot rated passenger reported that this was the first flight after the engine had been rebuilt. The flight was planned to circle the airport environment to "break-in" the engine. The engine had been operating at 75 % power for the 30 minutes and readings for engine performance and fuel consumption were recorded. The pilots then decided to land at the airport they had been circling. Both pilots reported that just after the landing gear was lowered, they both smelled a heavy odor of fuel. About two minutes later, the engine began to sputter and subsequently quit. Unable to accomplish a successful landing at the airport, the pilot elected to perform a forced landing to an open field. The aircraft's left wingtip contacted the surface first and the aircraft cartwheeled before coming to rest. Post-accident inspection of the wreckage found a small amount of fuel in one wing, however, due to the severity of the break-up of the structure and compromise of the fuel system, the source of the fuel leak could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion as a result of a fuel leak from an undetermined location resulting in a loss of engine power during approach for landing and subsequent forced landing. Soft terrain was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chewelah |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99109 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 481800N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1174459W |
| 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 | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2210 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| 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) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 3 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1338 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Spokane, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N320MC |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA179 |
| 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 | Hardin |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair 320 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 444-FB-24 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 20 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | M.C. Hardin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chewelah |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99109 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1S9 |
| Departure City | Chewelah |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |