Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Glendale Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Glendale, Arizona 85307
Friday, October 30, 2009 11:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the experimental homebuilt airplane reported that this was its inaugural flight. The pilot reported that immediately after takeoff, at approximately 300 feet above ground level, the airspeed began to decrease. He lowered the airplane's nose to maintain airspeed when he then noticed that the engine's rpm was also decreasing. He performed a forced landing straight ahead, and during the roll out, the airplane impacted a berm. Both wings were displaced aft and the bottom of the fuselage was broken. The owner/builder of the airplane reported that the airplane's fuel tank was located between the firewall and the instrument panel. The fuel tank's vent line passed through the firewall into the engine compartment and terminated near the bottom of the aircraft. This was the same location that the engine's cooling air flow exited the engine compartment. The builder believed that the exiting airflow may have created a negative pressure in the fuel tank, which would have reduced the fuel flow to the engine during flight. Two Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the experimental Corvair 164 CID engine with the pilot. No anomalies that would have prevented normal engine operation was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of a reduced fuel flow to the engine resulting from a misrouted fuel tank vent line, during initial climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/30/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Glendale |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85307 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333137N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121743W |
| Event Location Airport | Glendale Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GEU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1071 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1147 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GEU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1071 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| 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) | 26392 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operation Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 20 2010 2:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N811RJ |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA039 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SAUER |
| Aircraft Model | KR-2S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 980 |
| 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 | Oct 30 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SAUER ROBERT E TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SUN CITY WEST |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85375-5121 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SAUER ROBERT E TRUSTEE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SUN CITY WEST |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85375-5121 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GEU |
| Departure City | Glendale |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GEU |
| Destination City | Glendale |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2009 5:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |