Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hartford, Kentucky 42347
Sunday, July 24, 2011 12:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner/builder stated that the airplane was in cruise flight at 7,000 feet mean sea level when he moved the fuel selector from the left main tank to the right auxiliary tank. The engine ran for a short time before it "stumbled," and lost power. The pilot’s efforts to restart the engine were unsuccessful, so he elected to shut off the fuel and perform a forced landing to a road. During the landing, the airplane struck a guardrail. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that several fuel system components and screens were partially or fully occluded with particles that resembled rust and material with the appearance, odor, and consistency of varnish. According to the pilot, his use of the auxiliary tanks was intermittent, and he had serviced them with fuel just prior to departing on the accident flight. He further explained that the varnish material from the right auxiliary tank had completely occluded the fuel line, filter, and "blocked all fuel supply to the engine," which resulted in a total loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel contamination as a result of the pilot/owner's inadequate maintenance of the airplane's fuel system, which resulted in blockage of the fuel lines and filters.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1205 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hartford |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 42347 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372619N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0865122W |
| 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 | 1156 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 325 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOWB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 407 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29882 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 25 2012 8:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N164BF |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA418 |
| 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 | FLOYD JOSEPH B |
| Aircraft Model | RV6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24368 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | Mar 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 941 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLOYD JOSEPH B |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOWLING GREEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 42103-1675 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FLOYD JOSEPH B |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BOWLING GREEN |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 42103-1675 |
| 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 | KBWG |
| Departure City | Bowling Green |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KOSH |
| Destination City | Oshkosh |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 17 2012 12:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |