Cheyenne Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At the end of a 2-hour flight the airplane was 3.8 miles from the Cheyenne Airport when the engine began to surge. The pilot overflew the airport in order to troubleshoot the problem. The pilot reported that he was at 135 knots, and the fuel selector was set to the right fuel tank, which had approximately 10 gallons of fuel in it. The surging stopped, and the pilot requested a left downwind for runway 27. Within 1 minute the surging returned, he turned toward the airfield, and the engine lost all power. The pilot maintained 125 knots and performed a dead stick landing on runway 31. The airplane veered off the side of the runway and into flat unprepared terrain and the gear collapsed. The builder of the airplane related to the pilot that the SX300 has very limited wing dihedral, and the ball needs to be kept in the center, or else the fuel pickup would unport. The pilot did not report finding any other anomalies with the airframe or engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/30/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Cheyenne
Event State WYOMING
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 82001
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410900N
Event Location Longitude 1044900W
Event Location Airport Cheyenne Regional
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KCYS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 Docket Number (internal use) 24264
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 30 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N99F
NTSB Number LAX08CA249
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Fowler
Aircraft Model SX300
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 12
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John L. Ewing
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Yuma
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
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? 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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KLUM
Departure City Menomonie
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KCYS
Destination City Cheyenne
Destination State WY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 5 2008 4:14PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 6690
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --