Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Olympia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Olympia, Washington 98502
Tuesady, July 31, 2007 14:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental airplane's engine lost power a few minutes after takeoff. There was no surge or popping sound associated with the sudden loss of power. The pilot selected the second fuel tank, completed engine out emergency procedures, but was unable to restart the engine, and selected a two lane road for landing. During the landing the airplane snagged multiple power lines and came to rest partially suspended from the broken power lines. The airplane's fuel system had been modified from the firewall forward, with a canister type of fuel filter and an Ellison throttle body. Removal and examination of the fuel filter disclosed brown, rust-colored corrosion. Sludge was inside the filter canister, and rust-colored stains were on the filter element. Examination of the fuel tanks revealed rust-colored deposits around the fuel tank outlets. The rust-colored deposits and stains are consistent with water contamination in the fuel filter canister and fuel tank, and indicates that the fuel system had been exposed to water for some time. The engine maintenance logbook recorded that an annual examination was completed on July 1, 2007, and that "all fuel and oil screens/filters checked," which was not consistent with the physical condition of the fuel filter as examined after the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to water-contaminated fuel, and maintenance personnel's inadequate inspection of the fuel system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Olympia |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98502 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 465800N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225400W |
| Event Location Airport | Olympia |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KOLM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOLM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23158 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NX2EA |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA233 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Dehavilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18043 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1590 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4748.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stuart G. Smith |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Camano Island |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98282 |
| 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 | KOLM |
| Departure City | Olympia |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KAWO |
| Destination City | Arlington |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 25 2008 4:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |