CEN12LA346

The passenger reported that the airplane’s low fuel light illuminated during the flight. She stated that they continued the flight and were circling to land on a grass runway when the airplane crashed. A witness reported seeing the airplane pass over the runway at a low altitude with the engine operating. The airplane then abruptly climbed and initiated a turn. The witness said that the airplane’s nose dropped as if the airplane had stalled and it then descended and impacted the ground. The airplane incurred substantial damage, which included separation of the engine, outboard left wing and aft fuselage, and upward bending of the right wing. There was no bending of the blades of the engine’s propeller, indicating that the engine was not producing power at the time of the impact. Both fuel tanks ruptured, and only 1 gallon of fuel was recovered at the scene. No fuel was found in the gascolator or carburetor. No fuel odor was present at the accident site. The airplane maintenance manual indicated that 1 gallon of the airplane’s fuel supply was unusable fuel. It is likely that the engine lost power during the landing approach due to fuel exhaustion and that the pilot failed to maintain airspeed after the power loss, resulting in an inadvertent stall.

On June 7, 2012, about 1615 central daylight time, a Beech model 77 airplane, N18012, sustained substantial damage when it impacted the ground during a landing approach at the Clark County Airport (8D7), Clark, South Dakota. The private pilot and passenger received minor injuries. The airplane sustained damage to its wings and fuselage. The airplane was registered to Little Chippewa Creek LLC, and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was operated on a visual flight rules flight plan. The flight originated from the Pierre Regional Airport, Pierre, South Dakota, about 1400. The passenger in the airplane reported that she and the pilot flew from Morris, Minnesota, to Pierre, South Dakota. They then left Pierre about 1400. She reported that the low fuel light illuminated prior to reaching 8D7. They proceeded to 8D7 to land and flew over the airport. They saw a grass runway and were circling around the airport to land when the airplane crashed. A witness to the accident saw the airplane pass over the runway at a relatively low altitude. At the time, the airplane’s engine was operating. He said the airplane then dipped down followed by an abrupt climb and a sharp turn toward the grass runway. The witness surmised that the pilot was trying to make a fast attempt to land on the grass runway. The nose of the airplane then came down as if the airplane had stalled and went into the ground. He estimated that the airplane was 200 feet above ground level when the stall occurred. Examination of the airplane at the accident site revealed that the engine, aft fuselage, and outboard left wing were separated from the airplane. The right wing was crushed upward and rearward. Examination of the engine and fuel system revealed that both wing fuel tanks were ruptured, the fuel line from the selector valve to the gascolator had broken off, and the gascolator was clean with no debris. Both fuel lines connected to the electric fuel pump had broken off. The upper carburetor mounting flange was separated from the rest of the carburetor, and the throttle butterfly was separated from the engine. No fuel was found in the carburetor or gascolator and there was no fuel smell at the accident site. About one gallon of fuel was drained from the ruptured wing tanks when the airplane was recovered to a trailer for transport from the accident site. The airplanes propeller had no noticeable bending or twisting of the blades. The airplane had a total fuel capacity of 30 gallons, of which 29 was usable in normal flight attitudes. The fuel system included a fuel shutoff valve with on and off positions, but no provision was provided for feeding from a single tank. The fuel monitoring system consisted of a fuel quantity indicator in each wing fuel tank. The system also had a low fuel warning light that operated in conjunction with the two fuel quantityindicators. As of the June 14, 2013, the pilot has not submitted a report of the accident to the NTSB.