Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Williamsburg, Michigan 49690
Friday, June 5, 2009 14:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur-built airplane departed on the cross-country flight with 12 gallons of fuel. The left and right wing tanks contained 5 and 7 gallons of fuel, respectively. The outbound flight leg was completed without any reported problems. The pilot did not refuel before departing on the return flight. On the return flight, about 8 miles from the destination airport, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot was unable restart the engine and subsequently performed a forced landing into a forest clearing. The outboard half of the left wing was damaged during the landing when it impacted a tree. After the accident, the right fuel tank still contained 7 gallons of fuel. The left fuel tank was void of any usable fuel. Examination of the fuel tanks did not reveal any ruptures or breaches of any kind. The airplane was not equipped with a fuel tank selector. The output fuel lines for the right and left fuel tanks fed into a T-fitting which combined the fuel flow into a single line that serviced the engine. The output fuel lines from each tank were secured to airframe structural tubing with nylon cable-ties. The output fuel line from the right tank was pinched closed where one of the cable-ties was installed, restricting the fuel flow from the right tank. According to the pilot/builder, he finished installing wingtip navigation and strobe lights about 1.4 hours flight time before the accident. During the light installation, he routed and secured the associated electrical wiring in the same area as the fuel tank output lines. The pilot/builder stated that he may have tightened the fuel line cable-tie while he installed the navigation/strobe lights.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot/builder's improper installation of the fuel line cable-tie, which resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1425 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Williamsburg |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49690 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444435N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0852413W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1425 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTVC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 624 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25902 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Great Lakes Regional Ope |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 19 2009 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N213KT |
| NTSB Number | CEN09CA338 |
| 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 | Garrett |
| Aircraft Model | Rans S-6ES |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 07041600 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1089 |
| 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 | Sep 2 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 82 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald W. Garrett |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 111 Washington Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Elk Rapids |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49629-9748 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Donald W. Garrett |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 111 Washington Street |
| Operator City | Elk Rapids |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 49629-9748 |
| 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 | KHTL |
| Departure City | Houghton Lake |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KTVC |
| Destination City | Traverse City |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 18 2009 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| 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 | -- |