Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ludington, Michigan 49431
Friday, July 23, 2010 10:17 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was crossing Lake Michigan at 10,000 feet above mean sea level when the engine lost power. He was near the mid-point (about 24 miles from the shoreline) of the lake with a 40-knot headwind, so he turned around to return to shore. He attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. The pilot ditched the airplane about 5 miles from shore and it quickly sank. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed that the firewall fuel strainer gasket did not provide a complete seal between the fuel screen and the fuel strainer's upper body. A portion of the gasket was positioned over the exit port, which created a gap. This allowed debris in the fuel to migrate to the engine's fuel inlet filter screen in the fuel metering assembly. The inspection of the fuel inlet filter screen revealed that it was partially obstructed with debris. The orifice of the fuel inlet passage contained the same debris that obstructed the flow of fuel through the orifice to the fuel screen. The airplane had undergone an annual maintenance inspection about 7.5 hours prior to the accident. The mechanic, who had an inspection authorization, reported that he did not inspect the gasket on the firewall fuel strainer, nor did he remove and inspect the fuel inlet filter screen as required by the manufacturer's service manual. The debris was composed of materials similar to wood chips, sawdust, paint, varnish, cloth, glass fibers, metal shavings, sand, and soil. The source of the contaminants was not determined. The postaccident inspection revealed no other preexisting airframe anomalies. The engine was run on a test stand and the engine produced the rated horsepower. The airplane's owner's manual indicated that the glide distance for an airplane at 10,000 feet above the water's surface was 15 miles.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of accumulated debris in the fuel system from an undetermined source. Also causal was the inadequate annual maintenance inspection that did not include inspection of the firewall fuel strainer and the fuel inlet screen.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1017 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ludington |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49431 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440006N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0863949W |
| 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 | 955 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LUD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1047 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28667 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2011 10:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N82531 |
| NTSB Number | CEN10FA465 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | U206F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | U-206-01734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 5 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 3946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FREED CONSTRUCTION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 92 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALMA |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48801-0092 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jerry Freed |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Alma |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48801 |
| 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 | AMN |
| Departure City | Alma |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RST |
| Destination City | Rochester |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 5 2011 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| 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 | -- |