Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wittman Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54904
Sunday, July 28, 2013 11:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was about 1,000 feet above ground level when the engine experienced a loss of power. The pilot was able to momentarily regain engine power twice before the engine lost total power. The pilot performed a forced landing in a field. The airplane's nose impacted terrain, which pushed the engine rearward and buckled the structure under the forward cockpit area. A postaccident examination revealed that the left wing fuel tank was nearly full, and the fuel line connecting the left wing fuel tank to the header tank had softened at the installation bend, which allowed the fuel line to kink and shut off the fuel supply from the left wing tank. The right wing and header fuel tanks were empty, and the fuel line from the right tank was intact and functioned normally. The fuel system on newer models of the accident airplane have been modified to include a 90-degree elbow fitting, which prevents the tight bend in the fuel line from the wing tanks to the header tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The degraded fuel line, which prevented fuel from the left tank from reaching the header tank and resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Oshkosh |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54904 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435719N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0884056W |
| Event Location Airport | Wittman Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OSH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 255 |
| Airport Elevation | 808 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1200 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 75 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OSH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 29.91 |
| 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) | 32368 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Sheriff's Department |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2014 2:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N873RX |
| NTSB Number | CEN13FA440 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PHELPS |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 873 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 26 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 923 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PHELPS REX D |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CLINTON TOWNSHIP |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48036-2044 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PHELPS REX D |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | CLINTON TOWNSHIP |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48036-2044 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | PPO |
| Departure City | La Porte |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OSH |
| 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 | Feb 4 2014 2:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |