La Porte Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

La Porte, Indiana 46350
Thursday, September 18, 2008 12:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The light sport airplane landed at an airport for a fuel stop during a positioning flight. According to the pilot, the airplane departed on the remainder of the positioning flight and "42 [minutes] into [the] flight at [4,500 feet] the engine stopped." The pilot performed a successful forced landing to a soybean field, with no injuries or damage to the aircraft. A postincident inspection of the airplane showed that the fuel gauge indicated 16 gallons of fuel, yet there was no fuel in the fuel tank. It was later discovered that the airplane had been over-serviced with fuel contrary to a service notification warning that a siphoning condition could occur as a result of over-servicing. Following the investigation the manufacturer modified the fuel filler neck and fuel cap and subsequently issued a service bulletin informing owners of the modification. The airplane was certified to ASTM consensus standards that allowed for the airplane's fuel filler neck design.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of siphoning from the fuel filler neck and cap. Contributing to the incident were the fuel over-servicing which resulted in the siphoning condition, and the ASTM standards which allowed for the fuel tank filler neck/vent design.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 9/18/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City La Porte
Event State INDIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 46350
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 423713N
Event Location Longitude 0890229W
Event Location Airport La Porte Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PPO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 812
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID VPZ
Elevation of weather observation facility 770
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
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) 30.36
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KVPZ 181653Z AUTO 10010KT 10SM CLR 22/12 A3036
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) 25319
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 18 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 9 2010 1:41PM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office South Bend, IN, FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N107JF
NTSB Number CHI08IA294
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name INDUS AVIATION INC
Aircraft Model T-211 THORPEDO
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0705D0303
Certified Max Gross Weight 1270
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 Sep 15 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 48
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT SALES LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 49 MIRY BROOK RD
Aircraft Owner City DANBURY
Aircraft Owner State CT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 06810-7408
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT SALES LLC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 49 MIRY BROOK RD
Operator City DANBURY
Operator State CT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 06810-7408
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code IRS
Departure City Kirsh
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HIB
Destination City Hibbing
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2009 5:04PM
User who most recently changed record male
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 --