Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kalaeloa (John Rogers) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kapolei, Hawaii 96707
Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:50 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was to be the airplane's first flight since completion. The pilot/builder reported that the departure roll was smooth and the controls felt normal. As the airplane reached about 30 feet above ground level (agl), the engine experienced a loss of power. The pilot configured the airplane in a nose-low attitude in an effort to prevent a stall. The airplane landed hard on the left main landing gear, which subsequently collapsed. The airplane skidded off the left side of the runway. The pilot stated that the wing fuel tanks were empty during departure, and that he had 6 gallons in the interior fuselage header fuel tank. The kit manufacturer advised that flight with the airplane in such a fuel system configuration is allowable. Following the accident, an FAA inspector examined the airplane and upon disassembly of the carburetor, found only a small amount of water (several drops) and trace amounts of fuel in the bowl. When fuel was plumbed to the engine, it was started and run with no anomalies noted. The inspector opined that the pilot failed to have an adequate supply of fuel onboard the airplane during departure, resulting in a fuel starvation event.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation that resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation and failure to ensure that an adequate fuel supply was onboard the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/25/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kapolei |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96707 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 211826N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1580413W |
| Event Location Airport | Kalaeloa Airport (John Rogers) |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHJR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHJR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23187 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 25 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 | WP-HNL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N559AW |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA253 |
| 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 | EDRA Aeronautica |
| Aircraft Model | Seastar |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | S0169 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1430 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alan R. Wehmer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kaneohe |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96744 |
| 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 | PHJR |
| Departure City | Kapolei |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 950 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PHJR |
| Destination City | Kapolei |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 29 2008 12:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4L |
| Runway Length | 4500 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |