Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bow, Washington 98232
Saturday, March 24, 2012 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot performed two touch-and-go landings then departed to his destination airport. As the airplane climbed through 2,300 feet mean sea level, the pilot heard a loud "clunk." The engine experienced a total loss of power, and the airplane began to descend. The pilot maneuvered the airplane to a field in an effort to perform an off-airport, emergency landing. Prior to touchdown, the landing gear collided with a barbed wire fence and the airplane nosed over.
During the wreckage recovery, the right fuel tank was found empty and the left tank contained about 22 gallons of aviation fuel. The pilot reported that he believed that the fuel selector was positioned on the left tank at the time of the loss of power. He did not attempt to restart the engine following the loss of power due to the airplane's low altitude. At the time of the airframe examination, the fuel selector was found in the off position. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the fuel selector was in fact positioned to the empty fuel tank and the reason for the loss of engine power was due to fuel starvation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot’s mismanagement of the fuel supply.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bow |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98232 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483249N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222433w |
| 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 | 1555 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 144 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30906 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 22 2013 9:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N238RV |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA146 |
| 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 | JACOBS |
| Aircraft Model | RV-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23880 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Jan 13 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 682 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Randall Watts |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bellingham |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98226 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Randall Watts |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bellingham |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98226 |
| 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 | BVS |
| Departure City | Burlington |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BLI |
| Destination City | Bellingham |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2013 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |