Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lagrange-Callaway Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lagrange, Georgia 30241
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 11:55 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot completed a preflight inspection of the airplane before taking off and flying to an airport 32 nautical miles (nm) away. There, he made a full stop landing, taxied back, and took off for another airport 16 nm away. Again, he made a full stop landing and taxied back, before taking off for his original departure airport. Just after takeoff, while the airplane was in the traffic pattern downwind leg, about 1000 feet, the engine sputtered twice and lost power. He then attempted to land on the runway, but the airplane landed short and the nose landing gear buckled. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed that no fuel lines were compromised or blocked, that the fuel lines had little to no fuel in them, and that the gascolator was approximately half full of fuel. In addition, the fuel header tank was empty while the two wing tanks were almost full. The fuel tank shut-off valve, and the main fuel valve were found in the off position, but the pilot stated that he had turned off both upon evacuation of the airplane. He also stated that it was his practice to turn off the fuel tank shut-off valve after every flight. The fuel tank shut-off valve controlled fuel flow from the wing tanks to the header tank. With the lack of fuel found in the header tank, it was likely that the fuel tank shut-off valve had been in the off position for all three flights, which ultimately resulted in fuel starvation to the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and his failure to ensure that the fuel tank shut-off valve was open resulting in fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/28/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1155 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LaGrange |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30241 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 330019N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850413W |
| Event Location Airport | LaGrange-Callaway |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 693 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1220 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 693 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| 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) | 30.03 |
| 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) | 28144 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2011 2:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N87172 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA248 |
| 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 | ENGINEERING & RESEARCH |
| Aircraft Model | ERCOUPE 415-C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 345 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 19 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 2178 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MALLARD WILLIAM C |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | DECATUR |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30030-1008 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MALLARD WILLIAM C |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | DECATUR |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30030-1008 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LGC |
| Departure City | LaGrange |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1152 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CCO |
| Destination City | Atlanta |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2011 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 5600 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |