# Accident 19980411006469A: Starck Robert L AURIGA, Collegedale, TN, April 11, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 11, 1998, 18:45 local time
- Place: Collegedale, TN
- Airport: Collegedale Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 35.0508° N, 85.0508° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.0508&lon=-85.0508&mi=10
- Aircraft: N311RS, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N311RS-1999-10-21) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Starck Robert L AURIGA (registry code 05626BG, https://openairdocs.org/model/starck-robert-l-auriga) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported engine: LYC IO540K1A5
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 3,500 total
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB MIA98LA130](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA98LA130) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980411006469A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ENGINE QUIT ON BASE. OVERFLEW RWY. ALIGNMENT. BANKED STEEPLY TO REALIGN. STALLED. ROLLED OVER TOP. IMPACT INVERTED. (.4) THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO CLIMB STEEPLY AFTER TAKEOFF AND ENTER A DOWNWIND LEG FOR LANDING. WITNESSES HEARD THE AIRCRAFT'S ENGINE LOSE POWER AND THE PILOT TRANSMITTED ON THE UNICOM FREQUENCY THAT HE HAD AN ENGINE COUT. THE PILOT ROLLED THE AIRCRAFT TO A STEEP BANK ANGLE TO ENTER A BASE LEG AND THEN A FINAL LEG. AS THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHED THE FINAL COURSE IT ROLLED RAPIDLY TO AN INVERTED POSITION AND CRASHED ON A STREET. THE ENGINE WAS HEARD TO ACCELERATE JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT. POSTCRASH EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE, PROPELLER, AND ENGINE FUEL SYSTEM SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF PRECRASH MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. THE AIRFRAME FUEL SYSTEM ELECTRIC FUEL BOOST PUMP DID NOT OPERATE AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND AN INCORRECT O-RING HAD BEEN INSTALLED IN THE PUMP CAUSING THE PUMP TO LEAK THROUGH THE DRAIN. WITNESSES STATED TO AN FAA INSPECTOR THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD AN ENGINE FAILURE SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT DUE TO AN ELECTRIC FUEL BOOST PUMP FAILURE AND THAT THE PILOT HAD MADE REPAIRS TO THE PUMP PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT.                                           (-23) ACCORDING TO SEVERAL WITNESSES THE AIRPLANE, N311RS, ENTERED THE DOWNWIND LEG OF THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AT COLLEGEDALE AIRPORT AT LOWER THAN NORMAL TRAFFIC PATTERN ALTITUDE. HE TURNED HIS BASE LEG CLOSER THAN ONE WOULD NORMALLY BE TO THE RUNWAY; THEN MADE A RADIO CALL TO THE OTHER AIRPLANE TRAFFIC SAYING THAT HE HAD AN ENGINE OUT AND THAT HE WOULD NEED TO CUT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER PLANE THAT WAS ALREADY ON FINAL. N311RS POSSIBLY OVERSHOT THE BASE TO FINAL TURN AND ATTEMPTED TO CORRECT THIS BY BANKING VERY STEEPLY. SHORTLY AFTER THE STEEP BANK, N311RS, ROLLED INVERTED AND DESCENDED VERY RAPIDLY INITIALLY STRIKING THE TOPS OF SOME TREES IN THE YARD OF A HOUSE ALONG APISON PIKE; THE PLANE REMAINED INVERTED AND THEN IMPACTED UPON APISON PIKE. AFTER IMPACT IT HAD ENOUGH MOMENTUM TO CARRY IT FORWARD FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED YARDS TO ITS RESTING POINT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB MIA98LA130](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA98LA130), Apr 11, 1998: Starck Auriga (N311RS), Collegedale, TN, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: A leak in the electric fuel boost pump caused by an improperly sized 'O' ring installation and the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during an approach to a forced landing resulting in a stall.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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