CEN12LA128

The airplane had not been flown for over 6 months prior to the accident flight. Before departure, the pilot added about 3 gallons of fuel to the existing fuel on board the airplane. The pilot did not find contamination when he drained fuel from the main fuel tank sump drain. About 20 minutes after departure, during cruise flight, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power that led the pilot to conduct a forced landing on a road. The airplane nosed over during the landing. An examination of the airplane revealed that the airplane was not equipped, nor was it required to be equipped, with a fuel sump drain(s) for the wing tank, which drained into the main fuel tank. Water contamination was present in the fuel line leading to the carburetor, but no water contamination was noted when the main fuel tank sump—the only available sump—was drained. Accordingly, water was likely in the wing tanks and fed into the main tank after it was sumped. The water then entered the fuel lines. The lack of sump drains in the wing tanks is an inadequate design because it does not allow a pilot to remove all water from the fuel system.

On January 5, 2012, about 1030 central standard time, an experimental amateur-built Sanderson Pitts Special SPS-1, N330BL, experienced a total loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing on a road near Revere, Minnesota. The commercial pilot was uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wings and vertical stabilizer when the airplane nosed over and impacted terrain during the landing. The airplane was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A flight plan had not been filed for the flight that originated from Madison Municipal Airport (MDS), South Dakota, at 1000 and was destined for Faribault Municipal Airport (FBL), Faribault, Minnesota. The pilot purchased the airplane, which had not flown for over six months, and was going to fly to MDS. Prior to departure, he drained the main fuel tank sump but was not able to check for fuel contamination present in the wing tank due to a lack of a fuel sump drain. The wing fuel tank drains into the main fuel tank. To top off the wing fuel tank, he added 3 gallons of fuel from the previous airplane owner's fuel tank. The main fuel tank was already full. After about 20 minutes of flight, the pilot moved the auxiliary fuel selector to the open position to allow fuel from the wing fuel tank to flow into the main fuel tank. About 5 minutes later, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot changed engine throttle control positions, and the engine surged and quit again. The pilot then performed a forced landing to a field. Examination of the airplane by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed the presence of water in the fuel line leading to the carburetor. Fuel samples from the available fuel sumps did not show the presence of water. The experimental amateur-built airplane was not certified nor was it required to be certified under 14 CFR Part 23, Airworthiness Standards for Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes. Part 23.971, Fuel Tank Sump, states in part: (a) Each fuel tank must have a drainable sump with an effective capacity, in the normal ground and flight attitudes, of 0.25 percent of the tank capacity, or 1/16 gallon, whichever is greater. (b) Each fuel tank must allow drainage of any hazardous quantity of water from any part of the tank to its sump with the airplane in the normal ground attitude.