Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rutland, Ohio 45775
Friday, July 20, 2012 11:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was near the end of a 389-mile cross-country flight when the engine began to sputter. A witness reported that the airplane’s engine sputtered, went silent, restarted, sputtered, and again went silent. The airplane had completed a left turn toward a field when the nose dropped to a nearly 90-degree, nose-low attitude and descended toward the terrain, consistent with an aerodynamic stall. First responders found the airplane’s header fuel tank empty. Only a residual amount of fuel remained in the wing fuel tanks, and all other fuel areas were empty. An examination of the airplane did not detect any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The non-instrument rated pilot’s cruise altitude could not be verified; however, instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight’s last 90 nautical miles. It is likely that the pilot not being instrument rated, was probably relying purely on the ground positioning system direction to maintain course, and he was unable to locate and land at several airports along his route of flight prior to fuel exhaustion.
Postmortem toxicology testing for the pilot indicated positive results for Paroxetine and Rosuvastatin. The pilot had not reported any medication on his medical application to the FAA. Although such medications can impair mental and/or physical ability, it was not possible to determine to what extent the pilot may have been impaired.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s inadequate fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the inadvertent stall during the pilot’s emergency landing and the pilot’s decision to continue flight in deteriorating weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rutland |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45775 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820649W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1135 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KUNI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 766 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | METAR KUNI 201535Z AUTO 20003KT 7SM OVC007 23/21 A |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31242 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3YV |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA460 |
| 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 | CHAMBERLAIN GERALD |
| Aircraft Model | ESCAPADE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | JAESC0084 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHAMBERLAIN GERALD F |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | RAEFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28376 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CHAMBERLAIN GERALD F |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | RAEFORD |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 28376 |
| 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 | KLBT |
| Departure City | Lumberton |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KVTA |
| Destination City | Newark |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2013 3:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | aguj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |