Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
French Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winchester, California 92563
Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The builder/owner/pilot of the kitplane had selected and installed a modified Chevrolet Corvair engine as the airplane's powerplant and was in the early stages of the test flight program. The engine had accumulated a total of about 3 flight hours before the accident flight, and the fuel quantity gauges were not yet operative. About 45 minutes into the flight, the engine experienced a complete loss of power during a reduced-power descent toward the home airport, and the pilot was unable to restart the engine. In the resulting off-airport forced landing, the airplane came to rest inverted. First responders observed that fuel was leaking from the tanks. Examination of the airplane and the ground underneath the airplane a few hours after the accident revealed only trace amounts of fuel. Residual fuel from the source used to fuel the airplane for the accident flight tested negative for both water and ethanol, and the fuel strainers were free of obstructions. About 1 month after the accident, the chief engine designer at the engine modification company examined and prepared the engine for a test run. The engine started and performed normally through various power settings. The designer concluded that the engine failure was due to fuel exhaustion. Total fuel capacity was about 24 gallons, and the pilot estimated that he departed on the flight with about 13 gallons. According to the designer, the engine would have consumed between about 7 and 11 gallons per hour between the cruise- and full-power settings.
The pilot stated that during the descent in which he experienced the engine failure, the engine rpm was no lower than 2,400 rpm; therefore, he did not use carburetor heat. Correlation of ambient temperature and dew point values indicated that the airplane was operating in a region that corresponded to "Serious Icing (Glide Power)," near the boundary of the region denoted as "Serious Icing (Cruise Power)." Available evidence was insufficient to conclusively determine whether the engine power loss was due to fuel exhaustion or carburetor icing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power during descent for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Winchester |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92563 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333427N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170742W |
| Event Location Airport | French Valley Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F70 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1350 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 400 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| 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) | 31188 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2013 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N632DR |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA199 |
| 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 | ZENITH |
| Aircraft Model | CH-750 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 26 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Douglas R Stevenson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Winchester |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92596 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Douglas R Stevenson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Winchester |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92596 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | F70 |
| Departure City | Murieta |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | F70 |
| Destination City | Murieta |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2013 2:53PM |
| 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 | -- |