Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bakersfield, California 93308
Friday, May 21, 2010 16:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed for a cross-country flight with full fuel in the left and right fuel tanks and with the left fuel tank selected. However, during the flight the pilot was unable to change from the almost empty left fuel tank to the full right fuel tank. When the engine began to lose power due to fuel starvation, the pilot decided to land in a field to troubleshoot the fuel selector issue. A witness, who saw the airplane land and spoke with the pilot, said that the pilot reported a problem with the fuel selector valve. The witness saw the pilot working on the airplane, and then the pilot and passenger stated that they were going to fly to a nearby airport to complete repairs. According to the passenger, they examined the fuel valve and found that the set screw had fallen out. He thought that they set the fuel selector to the right fuel tank before attempting the flight for further repairs. However, about 10 seconds after takeoff the engine started to lose power again. The pilot attempted to turn back to land in the field again, but the airplane pitched down in a left turn and impacted the ground. Postaccident examination of the fuel selector valve and assembly revealed that the fuel selector valve shaft was sheared off, disconnecting the handle from the valve, and that the fuel valve was positioned to draw fuel from the left fuel tank. The airplane total time at the accident site was 1.82 hours. A logbook entry dated the day of the accident documented the issuance of a Special Airworthiness Certificate and Operating Limitations that day. Photographs taken during the issuance of the Special Airworthiness Certificate and Operating Limitations and those taken after the accident (as well as a note on the pilot’s kneeboard), indicated that the airspeed indicator color arcs were not marked as required.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued operation of the airplane with known mechanical deficiencies, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bakersfield |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93308 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352401N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1185422W |
| 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 | 1554 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 284 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 510 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30004 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2012 3:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N599LS |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA252 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Luscombe Silvaire Aircraft Co. |
| Aircraft Model | S-LSA-8C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | SLS-003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 30 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Luscombe Silvaire Aircraft Company Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1949 N. Diamond St |
| Aircraft Owner City | Orange |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92867 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Luscombe Silvaire Aircraft Company Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1949 N. Diamond St |
| Operator City | Orange |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92867 |
| 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 | RAL |
| Departure City | Riverside |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2012 3:04PM |
| 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 | -- |