Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ocklawaha, Florida 32179
Saturday, July 14, 2012 7:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the airplane was last fueled about 3 months prior to the accident and it had not been flown since that day. The pilot added that prior to the accident flight, he conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane, which included verifying that the fuel gauges indicated near full; however, he did not look in the fuel tanks. About 15 minutes after takeoff, about 1,000 feet above ground level, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot established the best glide speed and started to look for a possible place to perform a forced landing. At the same time, he initiated emergency procedures, which included switching the fuel tanks, but the engine did not regain power. The pilot subsequently performed a forced landing to a swampy area. During the landing, the airplane traveled about 50 feet, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. Examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel tanks were not compromised and did not leak any fuel into the swamp water. The fuel tanks did not contain any fuel in them and no fuel was observed in the fuel lines or carburetor. The examination of the airplane and engine did not disclose any evidence of a mechanical malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ocklawaha |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32179 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 290725N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815313W |
| 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 | 650 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OCF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 90 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 30630 |
| 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 | Dec 5 2012 9:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N83977 |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA452 |
| 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 | AERONCA |
| Aircraft Model | 7CCM |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7AC-2663 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1350 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 3393 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Leo G Janssens |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ocklawaha |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32179 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Leo G Janssens |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ocklawaha |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32179 |
| 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 | FA38 |
| Departure City | Ocklawaha |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FA38 |
| Destination City | Ocklawaha |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 19 2012 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |