Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mcgregor, Texas 76657
Tuesady, October 4, 2005 18:08 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 540-hour private pilot reported that approximately 5 to 10 miles short of his destination airport, while still in cruise flight at 3,500 feet, the engine lost power without warnings. The pilot made a forced landing to a field with the main landing gear still retracted. During the landing, the left wing came into contact with a fence post and severed the wing. The vintage airplane was not equipped with fuel gauges and the pilot reported that he did not visually inspect the fuel tanks before takeoff and estimated that he had enough fuel to complete a cross-country flight to a nearby airport. Examination of the airplane revealed that the main fuel tank was empty.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper preflight planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/4/2005
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1808
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City McGregor
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76657
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 312754N
Event Location Longitude 0972831W
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 15 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PWG
Elevation of weather observation facility 592
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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) 18976
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Oct 4 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2006 7:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Ft Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N32476
NTSB Number DFW06CA002
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 Culver
Aircraft Model LCA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 208
Certified Max Gross Weight 1305
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Keith Richbourg
Aircraft Owner Street Address 9821 Chapel Rd, Apt 1311
Aircraft Owner City Waco
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76712
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Keith Richbourg
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 9821 Chapel Rd, Apt 1311
Operator City Waco
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 76712
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 No
Departure Airport Code T94
Departure City San Antonio
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Waco
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 7 2005 7:44AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
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 --