Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Worth, Texas 76106
Sunday, April 15, 2007 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 8,633-hour airline transport pilot executed a forced landing to a field after the single-engine experimental airplane he was flying experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot reported in the NTSB Form 6120.1 (Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report) that he departed on a local flight approximately 15 minutes prior to the mishap. Prior to the flight, all systems checked-out normal and the weather was reported as visual flight rules for the duration of the flight. The pilot stated that he was flying at 2,400 feet mean sea level over densely populated urban area when the engine lost power. He added that at the time of loss of engine power the left fuel tank was selected and the tank was two-thirds full, while the right fuel tank was completely full. The pilot stated that he immediately turned-on the fuel boost pump and switched fuel tanks when the engine lost power. His actions did not restore engine power so the pilot established an airspeed of 80 knots and began looking for a suitable landing area. The pilot was able to land the airplane in a vacant field with full flaps in a wings level attitude with the tail wheel touching down first. The main landing gear subsequently "gave way and collapsed" allowing the airplane to come to rest in the upright position. The pilot and his passenger were able to exit the airplane unassisted and received no injuries. The airplane sustained structural damage to the right wing and main landing gear. The weather near the accident site was reported as wind from 330 degrees at 5 knots, clear skies, 10 miles visibility, and a barometric pressure setting of 30.02 inches of Mercury. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during cruise flight for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fort Worth |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76106 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 463640N |
| Event Location Longitude | Pleseen. |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21611 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center FTW |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N725ES |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA093 |
| 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 | Dwayne Smith |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25629 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 180 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Kennedy |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Arlington |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76017 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dwayne Smith |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Keller |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76248 |
| 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 | KGKY |
| Departure City | Arlington |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KGKY |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2007 10:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |