Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yoder Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Louisville, Ohio 44641
Saturday, April 25, 2009 10:53 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed his home airstrip with 3 to 4 gallons of fuel on board to fly to a nearby airport for fuel. The winds at the time of departure were calm. The pilot landed at a nearby airport, but did not purchase fuel. He then took off to fly back to his home airstrip. The accident occurred as the pilot was approaching his home airstrip land. According to witnesses, the engine was not producing power when the airplane banked to the right and descended nose first, consistent with an aerodynamic stall into a wooded area just northwest of the runway. Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed that less than 5 ounces of fuel was present in the fuel tank. No fuel was present in the fuel lines or gascolator, nor was there an odor of fuel at the accident site. According to a global positioning system used by the pilot, the flight was approximately 40 minutes long. The airplane consumes about 4 gallons of fuel per hour. Winds reported 10 miles from the accident site were from 240 degrees at 18 knots gusting to 26 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to assure an adequate fuel level which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident were the gusty winds and the pilot's loss of aircraft control during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/25/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1053 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Louisville |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 44641 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405030N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811429W |
| Event Location Airport | Yoder Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 10A7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1149 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1051 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CAK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1228 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| 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) | 25933 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AGL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2009 2:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N692RM |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA266 |
| 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 | MCGRATH ROBERT F |
| Aircraft Model | SONEX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0692 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 6 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 9.5 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCGRATH ROBERT F |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1603 AIRPARK DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOUISVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44641-2440 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MCGRATH ROBERT F |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1603 AIRPARK DR |
| Operator City | LOUISVILLE |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 44641-2440 |
| 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 | 38D |
| Departure City | Salem |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 10A7 |
| Destination City | Louisville |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 3 2009 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2950 |
| Runway Width | 135 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |