FTW97FA109

The homebuilt airplane impacted the ground after experiencing a total loss of engine power while in cruise flight at night. The private pilot had accumulated 8 hours in the airplane since purchasing it on 1/3/97. On the afternoon of the accident, the pilot obtained forecasts for a planned flight to San Angelo. The forecast was for prevailing IMC for the next few days. The pilot topped off the 20 gallon system with 16 gallons of 100LL fuel, executed touch-and-go landings for 30 minutes, and returned to the FBO. The pilot then discussed his plans with an FBO employee, finally telling the employee that he was not going to San Angelo because his airplane was not equipped with instrument or cockpit lights. The pilot later changed his mind and departed on the 299 mile night cross country flight. About 10 minutes later, while leveled at 3,500 feet the pilot reported a loss of engine power. No fuel was found in the header tank, fuel lines or carburetor. A few drops of fuel were found in the fuel filter.

History of flight

On February 27, 1997, at 1945 central standard time, a Keating Quickie II experimental homebuilt airplane, N89WL, was destroyed during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Houston, Texas. The non-instrument rated private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by a private individual under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal night cross country flight for which a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from the La Porte Airport, near La Porte, Texas, at approximately 1935 with an intended destination of San Angelo, Texas.

The pilot purchased the airplane from a private owner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 3, 1997. During the pilot's check out in the tricycle gear airplane, it inadvertently became airborne while he was practicing taxiing and landed in a nose low attitude damaging the propeller and the nose landing gear assembly. After the necessary repairs were completed, the pilot returned to Baton Rouge on February 23, 1997, took possession of the airplane, and flew it to the La Porte Airport where he had rented a hangar.

On the afternoon of the accident, the pilot made several calls to obtain a weather forecast for his planned 299 nautical mile flight to his home in San Angelo, Texas. The forecast for the next day (Friday), and most of the weekend was for prevailing instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot had the airplane topped off with 16 gallons of 100LL fuel, executed touch and go landings for about 30 minutes, then made a full stop landing and taxied back to the FBO. The pilot discussed his plans with an FBO employee, finally deciding not to go to San Angelo that day stating that "his airplane was not equipped with instrument and cockpit lights for night flight."

According to approach control records, after departing the La Porte Airport at 1935, the pilot contacted approach control and requested VFR radar advisories en route to San Angelo at a planned altitude of 4,500 feet MSL. The pilot reported that he was unable to reach his planned cruise altitude due to weather, so he leveled off at 3,500 feet.

While en route, the pilot left the assigned approach control frequency and switched to 121.5 (emergency frequency) and made two transmissions, both stating that the airplane had experienced a loss of engine power. The transmissions were received by most ATC facilities in the Houston area; however, the pilot kept his microphone switch depressed between transmissions, preventing his radio receiver from receiving any transmissions. According to the FAA inspector, at the time of the first call, the airplane was between the West Houston Airport and the Andrau Airpark.

Personnel information

The non-instrument rated private pilot obtained his private pilot certificate on April 20, 1989. He had accumulated a total of 125 hours of flight time, of which 8 were in the accident airplane. The pilot held a current FAA Third Class medical certificate with no waivers or limitations.

As part of an insurance requirement, the pilot was required to obtain 5 hours of familiarization flight time with the previous owner of the airplane. According to the previous owner, he only obtained half of the required training. See enclosed copies of the pilot's logbooks.

The previous owner of the airplane reported that the Quickie II is considered a "high performance" home built airplane. He stated that after the first flight with the new owner of the airplane he concluded that the airplane "was way over the pilot's head" as he "lacked the experience, patience and maturity necessary to handle such an airplane." He further stated that he tried to cancel the transaction and buy the airplane back from the new owner. The new owner declined stating that "he could handle the airplane with a little practice."

The previous owner also reported to the investigator-in-charge (IIC) that he found himself constantly reminding the new owner to monitor the transfer of the fuel from the main to the header tank, as this was a critical function.

Aircraft information

The canard wing, composite (carbon graphite, fiberglass, and foam) two-place airplane was built by Joseph Keating of Fort Devens, MA, on December 31, 1984, from plans provided by Quickie Aircraft. An FAA experimental certificate of airworthiness was issued on November 15, 1988. The airplane had accumulated a total of 81.5 flight hours at the time of the accident.

According to the aircraft records, the airplane had been through 4 previous owners prior to the sale of the airplane to the pilot on January 3, 1997. The airplane was originally registered as N84JK, and the registration was changed to the present N89WL on April 30, 1986. On March 29, 1986, the airplane was converted from the tailwheel configuration, to a tricycle gear configuration (Tri-Q). An AT-504 transponder, with altitude encoding capabilities, was installed on November 27, 1996. A copy of the airframe and engine logbooks is enclosed with this report.

The airplane was equipped with navigation lights and an anti collision strobe light; however, the airplane was not equipped with instrument or cockpit lights. Two small flashlights were found at the accident site; however, the position of the function switches on the flashlights could not be determined due to impact damage.

The fuel system on the airplane consist of a 15 gallon main fuel tank located under the pilot's seat, and a 5 gallon header tank located just aft of the firewall above the pilot's and passenger's legs. The engine is gravity fed from the header tank, with a fuel shutoff valve controlling the flow. An electric fuel pump transfers fuel from the main fuel tank to the header tank. The excess fuel is continuously recirculated to the main fuel tank through an overflow tube in the header tank. Each fuel tank is provided with a sight gauge to measure fuel quantity. While some operators of the airplane operated the airplane with the fuel pump on at all times, others choose to intermittently turn the pump on and off to maintain the header tank above the half full mark.

Meteorological information

The closest weather reporting station to the accident site was the Houston Intercontinental Airport. The probability of carburetor icing was considered during the investigation. A surface temperature of 14 degrees Centigrade with a dew point of 9 degrees Centigrade was reported near the time of the accident. After converting to Fahrenheit and correcting for the 3,500 foot en route altitude, using the standard lapse rate, the IIC arrived at a temperature of 44.6 degrees Fahrenheit and a dew point of 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Plotting the aforementioned values on the enclosed carburetor icing probability chart, revealed that the flight was being conducted in the "serious icing at cruise power" range at the time of the accident. The carburetor heat, which was found to be operational at the site, was found in the "cold" position.

Wreckage and impact information

The airplane impacted on the embankment of the western shore of a small man-made lake in a residential area approximately 16 nautical miles southwest of the Houston Intercontinental Airport. After impacting the ground, the airplane slid for approximately 60 feet, with small portions of the wreckage going through a residential fence and impacting the patio and balcony area of a two story brick residence located at 5506 Pillar Park Circle. The residents of the house were not home at the time of the accident, and there were no reported injuries to anyone on the ground. Overall damage to the residence was considered minor.

Imprints corresponding to the nose and main landing gears were found at the initial point of impact on a measured magnetic heading of 285 degrees. A shallow crater was