Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenville, Pennsylvania 16125
Friday, July 13, 2007 20:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur-built replica airplane was in the initial test flight stage and had only 3 hours total time. The pilot was returning to the airport with only 1/4 tank of fuel to attempt a landing. During the approach, he applied full power to perform a go-around, but the engine did not respond. He pumped the manual fuel pressure handle a few times, and the engine regained power, but then lost all power. The airplane then collided with terrain in a corn field. The pilot said he designed the fuel system to replicate the original, but only had limited historical documentation to work from. The system utilized both an engine driven fuel pump, and a separate wing strut mounted propeller driven air pump that pressurizes the fuel tank to maintain fuel pressure for the engine. On previous flights the fuel tank was full or nearly so during the landings. The pilot surmised that on the day of the accident, the 1/4 tank of fuel onboard did not provide the head pressure that existed on previous flights. He also stated that the system fuel pressure should have been increased by adjusting the strut mounted relief valve on the air pump.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a fuel starvation induced loss of engine power due to inadequate fuel system pressure. A factor in the accident was the pilot/builder's failure to adequately adjust the fuel system pressure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Greenville |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16125 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412649N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802329W |
| Event Location Airport | Greenville Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4G1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1202 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 36 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGKJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1400 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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) | 22785 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2007 6:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Allegheny FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6338 |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA220 |
| 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 | MURRIN FREDERICK L |
| Aircraft Model | Sopwith F1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | FM-05 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 3.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Frederick Murrin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greenville |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16125 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4G1 |
| Departure City | Greenville |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 5 |
| Runway Length | 2551 |
| Runway Width | 120 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |