Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Augusta, South Carolina 29841
Sunday, August 9, 2009 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the amateur-built airplane stated that he was having problems with “dirt dabbers” getting into the fuel vent on his airplane, and he installed a black rubber cap on the fuel vent. The pilot conducted a preflight inspection prior to the accident flight; however, he failed to remove the cap. He departed and was in cruise flight at 2,000 feet mean sea level, paralleling an interstate highway when the engine lost power. The pilot further stated that he immediately knew what happened. "The engine had quit because the air could not enter the fuel tank due to the blocked fuel vent line, which caused the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation." Examination of the airplane revealed the fuel vent was blocked with a black cap. No other anomalies were noted with the airframe, flight controls, fuel system, engine assembly, or associated components.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | North Augusta |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29841 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333011N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815750W |
| 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 | 1753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AGS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 144 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26069 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern 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 28 2009 1:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N808SA |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA453 |
| 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 | LAURIENZO GABRIEL A |
| Aircraft Model | VARIEZE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1654 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | May 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 680 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HART SAMUEL C JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 844 RIVER BLUFF RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTH AUGUSTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29841-6053 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Samuel C. Hart Jr. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 844 River Bluff Drive |
| Operator City | North Augusta |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29841 |
| 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 | S17 |
| Departure City | Graniteville |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1740 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | S17 |
| Destination City | Graniteville |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2009 1:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |