Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sumter Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sumter, South Carolina 29153
Sunday, April 27, 2014 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that during the building process, he determined the unusable fuel amount in the fuel tanks with them uninstalled in the wings, placed on saw horses in a level attitude, but did not take into account wing dihedral, wing incidence, or pitch attitude. With respect to the accident flight he departed with what he thought was an adequate supply of fuel. When the flight was 3 to 4 miles from his destination with the fuel selector positioned to the right tank, the engine quit due to fuel starvation. He repositioned the fuel selector to the left tank which restored engine power and continued towards the destination airport. About 1 minute later the engine quit again; the fuel gauges at that time indicated 1/8 capacity in each tank. He established best glide airspeed and after realizing he was unable to land at the destination airport, he executed a forced landing in a marsh short of the runway. After touchdown the airplane nosed over and although the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) had activated, the wreckage wasn't spotted until an airplane that was landing flew over at 1645. During rescue of the pilot the right wing was cut off but no fuel leakage was reported. Following recovery of the airplane, the left fuel tank which was not breached did not contain any fuel. Additionally, only a teaspoon of fuel was found in the fuel strainer and the carburetor bowl was dry.
Advisory Circular (AC) 90-89A, titled, "Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Test Handbook" dated May 24, 1995, provides guidance in part for determining unusable fuel amount, and the procedures call for placing the airplane at an angle 5 degrees above the highest anticipated climb angle and to disconnect the fuel line to the carburetor. When the fuel flow stops, the amount remaining in the fuel tank is considered as unusable fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion was the pilot's failure during the building process to properly determine the unusable quantity of fuel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sumter |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29153 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335913N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802216W |
| Event Location Airport | Sumter Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SMS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 227 |
| Airport Elevation | 182 |
| 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) | 47 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 182 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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) | 32768 |
| 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 | Jun 10 2014 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N121JN |
| NTSB Number | ERA14CA210 |
| 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 | JEROME A BAAK |
| Aircraft Model | CH 601XL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-7109 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 10 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 119 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BAAK JEROME A |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SUMTER |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29150-2305 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BAAK JEROME A |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SUMTER |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29150-2305 |
| 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 | SC55 |
| Departure City | Ehrhardt |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SMS |
| Destination City | Sumter |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 10 2014 4:26PM |
| 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 | -- |