Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hat Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nunica, Michigan 49448
Saturday, September 17, 2011 18:07 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the airplane had been refueled to its full capacity prior to the flight to the accident airport. The pilot indicated that the "flight to the accident airport required 50 minutes, which would have burned, with start-up, taxi, and flight time, 29 gallons.” The pilot then departed the accident airport and stated that he applied full takeoff power. On climbout, the low fuel pressure light illuminated just before gear retraction, the fuel pressure then dropped to zero, and the engine abruptly lost power. A video taken at the airport where the accident occurred revealed that the airplane lost power during takeoff, impacted a tree on the left side of the departure runway, and subsequently impacted terrain. The airplane’s engine monitor data revealed no recorded engine anomalies and fuel flow monitor data indicated 32.5 gallons of fuel used up to the time of the accident, and 77.1 gallons remaining. The pilot stated that he verified the fuel prior to departure at the accident airport by visual reference of fuel gauges and airplane fuel flow meter. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the right fuel tank was full. No anomalies were detected during the examination of the engine-driven fuel pump, gascolator, and the wobble pump. The fuel selector was found selected to the reserve position, which feeds from the reserve fuel retained within the standpipe and any additional left tank fuel above that retained reserve amount. The left main and reserve standpipes and screens were installed correctly and were free of obstructions. The left fuel tank contained about four gallons of fuel when it was defueled. The pilot did not visually check the level of the fuel tank’s contents prior to departure; had he done so, he would have recognized that the left tank’s fuel level was below what was expected. Fuel usage figures provided by both the pilot and the engine monitor data indicated there should have been over 20 gallons of fuel remaining in the left tank at the time of the accident. The reason for the discrepancy between the expected and actual fuel amounts could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation during climbout for undetermined reasons, because postaccident examination of the fuel system did not reveal any discrepancies that would have precluded normal engine operation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot not visually checking the fuel level prior to departure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/17/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1807 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Nunica |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49448 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430550N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0860540W |
| Event Location Airport | Hat Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5N7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 625 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 305 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 629 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KMKG 172155Z 13009KT 10SM CLR 20/06 A3029 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30944 |
| 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 | Feb 26 2013 8:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N217RK |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA651 |
| 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 | NORTH AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | AT-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 43942 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10073 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TAILWINDS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | EAST LANSING |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48823-9752 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Pilot |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | EAST LANSING |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48823-9752 |
| 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 | 5N7 |
| Departure City | Nunica |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1807 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TEW |
| Destination City | Mason |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 19 2012 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 3600 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |