ANC97FA031

The homebuilt airplane was being operated as an IFR cross-country flight over mountainous/coastal terrain. While cruising at 14,000 ft, about 19 miles from the nearest airport, the pilot encountered a low engine power condition. He declared an emergency, & was given vectors to the airport. The airplane was capable of gliding about 24 miles from 14,000 ft, but was ditched in the ocean, about 5 miles from the airport. The occupants did not egress from the airplane before it sank. The airplane engine had a ram air/alternate air box attached to the fuel control servo which controlled the engine air source. Ram air was unheated & unfiltered, & was to be used when operating in clear/dry air conditions. Alternate air was heated & filtered, & was to be used during an engine emergency, takeoff & landing, when flying in dusty air, or when in conditions where inlet icing could be expected (visual moisture & temperatures of 40 deg F or below). The airplane's air control was found in the ram air position. Weather conditions near the accident site included a temperature & dew point of 35 deg with snow & ice pellets. Upper air conditions along the route of flight included temperatures between -28 to -45 deg C, & humidity levels between 69 & 81 percent. An AIRMET had been issued for the area. It included a caution for light & temporary moderate icing in clouds & in precipitation from 1,000 ft to 12,000 ft. The freezing level was 1,000 ft. The pilot was provided a PIREP that indicated a trace of ice had been encountered in the area.

History of flight

On March 7, 1997, about 1411 Alaska standard time, the pilot of an experimental homebuilt Buesing SX-300 airplane, N357SX, declared an emergency and ditched in the ocean about 5 miles south of Sitka, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as an instrument flight rules (IFR) cross-country personal flight to Soldotna, Alaska, when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, was destroyed. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. An IFR flight plan was filed. The accident flight originated at the Ketchikan International airport, Ketchikan, Alaska, at 1310.

At 1211, the pilot obtained a weather briefing at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Ketchikan Flight Service Station (FSS), as part of his continuing flight from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Soldotna, Alaska. The pilot filed an IFR flight plan with the intended route from Ketchikan as; Annette VOR, Victor Airway 311 to the Biorka VOR, Victor 440 to the Yakutat VOR, Victor 319 to the Johnstone Point VOR, then direct to Soldotna.

After departure from Ketchikan, the pilot contacted the FAA's Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The airplane climbed to 14,000 feet mean sea level (msl), and proceeded along Victor 311 toward the northwest. At 1406:00, the pilot declared an emergency by stating: "Ah center, this is experimental 7SX, I got ah loss of power on the engine, I need to land." The pilot was initially given a clearance to the Sitka Airport via the LDA/DME approach to runway 11. The pilot then requested a heading straight to Sitka, stating he was not going to be able to maintain altitude very well. The controller provided instructions to fly a heading of 280 degrees and maintain 5,000 feet.

At 1406:47, the pilot inquired about his distance from the Sitka Airport. The ARTCC controller indicated the airplane was 13 miles from the airport, and asked the pilot to confirm the airplane had no power. The pilot replied, "nah, very low power." At 1407:34, the controller inquired about the flight conditions. The pilot replied, "I'm in the clear." At 1407:54, the controller provided the pilot with the current weather conditions at Sitka, which included a ceiling of 2,000 feet overcast conditions. At 1408:19, the pilot reported, "Ah kay, we're at 6,500, I don't think we're going to make it."

The ARTCC controller provided a suggested heading to the Sitka Airport of 340 degrees, below the minimum enroute altitude (MIA), and began providing terrain elevations for the area. At 1408:57, the pilot reported, "I'm passing through five (unintelligible) five thousand, and I, um, I'm going down at about 2,000 foot a minute."

At 1409:48, the ARTCC controller suggested a heading of 360 degrees, stating it would keep the airplane over water, all the way to the Sitka Airport, which was 8 miles away. The controller inquired if the airplane, at its present rate of descent, could make the 8 miles. The pilot replied that he did not think so. At 1411:07, the controller advised the pilot, "And ah NSX, radar contact is lost, say flight conditions." The pilot replied, "We're in the clear." The controller suggested a heading of 350 degrees, and indicated it was 6 miles to go from the last known position. The controller also inquired about the airplane's altitude. The pilot replied, "We're at 1,300 feet."

The controller inquired if the pilot could see the water and/or land. The pilot replied to the affirmative. At 1411:42, the controller inquired, "N7SX, you going to ditch in the water or do you think you can make the land." The pilot replied at 1411:45, "Ah ditch in the water if I have to ditch." At 1411:54, an unknown voice was heard on the radio frequency, saying: "Check your crossfeeds, check your cross fuel crossfeeds." There was no further radio contact with the pilot.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at latitude 56 degrees, 58.79 minutes north, and longitude 135 degrees, 23.11 minutes west.

Crew information

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, and instrument airplane ratings. In addition, the pilot held a repairman certificate, with an experimental aircraft builder rating, for the accident airplane. The most recent third-class medical certificate was issued to the pilot on November 11, 1996, and contained the limitation that the pilot must wear corrective lenses.

No personal flight records were located for the pilot. The aeronautical experience listed on page 3 of this report, was obtained from the NTSB form 6120.1/2 submitted by the pilot's spouse, and from an application for aircraft insurance, dated April 9, 1996.

Aircraft information

The airplane and engine both accumulated a total time in service of 1020.62 hours. Examination of the maintenance records revealed that the most recent inspection was accomplished on August 31, 1996, 43.15 hours before the accident.

Fueling records at Ketchikan, Alaska, established that the aircraft was last fueled on the accident date with the addition of 62.3 gallons of 100LL octane aviation fuel.

The airplane is a high performance, single-engine, home built airplane. The normal operating speed for the airplane is between 92 and 249 knots indicated airspeed. The maximum airspeed limitation is 280 knots. At gross weight, the airplane's power off stall speed is 82 knots. With full flaps, the stall speed is 72 knots. The airplane was approved for day and night VFR operations, and day and night IFR operations. It was not approved for flight into known icing conditions.

The airplane is equipped with a 300 horsepower, fuel injected, non-turbocharged engine. The airplane's pilot operating handbook (POH), Section VII, Systems Descriptions, 7.5 Induction System, states, in part: "Air for the engine induction system is available from two sources, the ram-air inlet located below the spinner on the front of the cowling or the alternate air source from inside the cowling. The ram air inlet lets unfiltered air directly into the engine induction system, whereas the alternate air provides warm, filtered air. The door position controlling the source of the inlet air is selected manually with a lever that is located on the control quadrant. The alternate air control should be in the HOT position when filtered, warm air is required - such as during takeoff or landing, when flying in dusty air, or when in conditions where inlet icing could be expected (visual moisture and temperatures of 40 degrees F or below). Otherwise, it should be the RAM position."

The accident airplane's ram/alternate air control is controlled by a lever on the engine control quadrant. The pilot labeled the ram air position as "OPEN", and the alternate air position as "CLOSED."

Section III, Emergency Procedures, 3.11 Engine Power Loss in Flight, of the POH, states, in part: "An airspeed of at least 125 knots should always be maintained. Altitude permitting, switch the fuel selector to another tank containing fuel and turn the electric fuel pump ON. Move the mixture control to RICH and the alternate air to HOT."

The designer of the airplane reported the airplane's rate of climb data, contained in Section V of the POH, established performance figures at 130 knots. He utilized the performance data to calculate the airplane's anticipated descent rate at 130 knots, and the airplane's glide ratio, also at 130 knots. The designer indicated at 130 knots, the airplane would descend at 1,256.2 feet per minute. The glide ratio, at 130 knots and the landing gear retracted, would be 10.41 to 1.

The cockpit area is enclosed by a canopy that is hinged along the upper edge of the firewall. The canopy is retained in the closed position by two latches located adjacent to each seat. The mating surface between the canopy and f