ERA13LA159

The pilot reported that he performed a preflight inspection of the experimental amateur-built airplane and noted that about 25 gallons of fuel remained in both of the airplane's fuel tanks. He subsequently departed for a local sightseeing flight, and, upon returning to the airport traffic pattern, the engine lost all power while the airplane was turning from the base to the final leg of the approach to the runway. The pilot was unable to glide the airplane to the runway, so he landed the airplane in a grass area short of the runway. The airplane's nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined from the available evidence.

On March 9, 2013, about 1150 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built FX 210, N524VT, was substantially damaged during a forced landing while on approach to Punta Gorda Airport (PGD), Punta Gorda, Florida. The airline transport pilot/owner/builder and two passengers incurred minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for a local flight. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.The pilot performed an uneventful preflight inspection of the airplane and noted a total fuel quantity of 25 gallons (of a possible 98 gallons) remained in both of the airplane's fuel tanks. He subsequently departed on a brief local sightseeing flight and upon returning to the airport, entered the traffic pattern for landing on runway 4. While turning from the base to the final leg of the traffic pattern, the engine suddenly lost all power. The pilot ensured that all of the fuel valves remained open and that the electric fuel boost pump was still activated. He then attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful. Due to the airplane's low altitude at the time of the engine power loss, the pilot was unable to glide the airplane to the runway, and performed a landing in the grass area short of the runway threshold. During the landing roll, the nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. A cursory examination of the airplane was conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, and found that the composite fuselage had been substantially damaged during the accident sequence. A detailed examination of the wreckage was conducted after the airplane was recovered from the accident site by an aircraft composite repair facility, which had experience with the accident airplane make/model. During the examination, it was found that the airplane's fuel tanks had been preassembled by the kit manufacturer and provided to the builder without swing gate baffles installed, which would have prevented fuel from sloshing within the tank. Additionally, the airplane was not equipped with a header fuel tank, as specified by its original design. The airplane's engine was not further examined. The experimental amateur-built airplane was certificated in April 2008, and was certified by the pilot to have completed phase I flight testing on January 4, 2012, after 25 total flight hours. The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming TIO-540-AE2A engine. The airplane's most recent condition inspection was completed on March 8, 2013, and at the time of the inspection the airplane had accumulated 26.7 total flight hours. The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with numerous ratings including airplane single engine land. He reported about 15,000 total hours of flight experience, 27 hours of which were in the accident airplane make and model.