Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nevada City Air Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nevada City, California 95959
Sunday, February 17, 2008 16:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the two-seat experimental airplane transmitted a distress call stating that he had lost engine power and could not restart the engine. Another pilot who was airborne at 5,500 feet msl (mean sea level) at the time of the accident said that he had radio communications with the pilot of the accident airplane. The accident pilot stated that he could not get the engine to restart, that he had tried everything, and he was going down. The pilot then observed the accident airplane in a controlled descent into an area populated by large trees. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the lever arm of the engine-driven fuel pump had failed in fatigue. Testing of the electric fuel boost pump demonstrated that it was capable of delivering fuel to the engine; however, the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge states that, in regard to fuel-injected engines, it is difficult to restart a hot engine or an engine that quits because of fuel starvation. The airplane logbooks documented that 44 days earlier the engine-driven fuel pump had been removed and replaced twice. After the first installation the engine would not run. The fuel pump was installed a second time, which resulted in successful engine operation. The engine ran for 16.1-hours before the fuel pump lever arm failed from a fatigue crack in the pivot area of the arm, causing the engine to lose power from fuel starvation. It is possible to incorrectly install this type of fuel pump. When the engine's fuel pump push rod is in the extended position it can interfere with the placement of the fuel pump lever arm during the installation, which results in it being obstructed or jammed against the engine case, possibly creating a crack in the pivot area of the lever arm. In this situation the engine usually does not run because the pump lever arm and engine push rod are not aligned correctly and fuel is not being pumped. The crack may not be visually detectable because the location is obscured by the pump case.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper installation of the fuel pump, leading to a fatigue failure of the pump's lever arm and subsequent loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1638 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Nevada City |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95959 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 391644N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1205859W |
| Event Location Airport | Nevada City Air Park |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KGOO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3152 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24943 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 17 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 25 2009 3:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fresno FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N331KM |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA063 |
| 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 | Wilson |
| Aircraft Model | RV-7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71967 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Nov 13 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 29.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 29.1 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven L Wilson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grass Valley |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95945 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Steven L Wilson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | KGOO |
| Departure City | Nevada City |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KGOO |
| Destination City | Nevada City |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 20 2009 3:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |