- Date
- July 6, 1987, 14:20 local (19:20 UTC)
- Place
- Big Spring, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N322Grumman G-21A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 11, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870706031969A
- Case key
- 22394
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During flt, the plt noted that the left fuel tank was almost empty and the right tank had gained fuel. He immediately switched from the both position to the right tank and started to work the wobble pump. The fuel continued to drop in the left tank and the acft lost pwr in both engines. The acft nosed over during the forced landing that followed. Exam of the acft revealed that the fuel vent to the right tank was blocked. In addition, the plt stated that the accident could have been prevented by not running on both tanks, particularly with partial loads of fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N322
- Reported as
- Grumman G-21A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- B73
- Airframe hours
- 18,870
- Engine
- P&W R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wilson C. Edwards
- Registered owner
- Wilson C Edwards
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 7, 1987 · 45 hours before
- Airport
- Edwards Lucian Wells
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14,000 total · 72 in this make and model · 13,700 as pilot in command · 124 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N322 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.