- Date
- July 30, 2008, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cheyenne, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N99FFowler SX300
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080730843419A
- Case key
- 68567
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
At the end of a 2-hour flight the airplane was 3.8 miles from the Cheyenne Airport when the engine began to surge. The pilot overflew the airport in order to troubleshoot the problem. The pilot reported that he was at 135 knots, and the fuel selector was set to the right fuel tank, which had approximately 10 gallons of fuel in it. The surging stopped, and the pilot requested a left downwind for runway 27. Within 1 minute the surging returned, he turned toward the airfield, and the engine lost all power. The pilot maintained 125 knots and performed a dead stick landing on runway 31. The airplane veered off the side of the runway and into flat unprepared terrain and the gear collapsed. The builder of the airplane related to the pilot that the SX300 has very limited wing dihedral, and the ball needs to be kept in the center, or else the fuel pickup would unport. The pilot did not report finding any other anomalies with the airframe or engine.
Factual narrative
At the end of a 2-hour flight the airplane was 3.8 miles from the airport when the engine began to surge. The pilot overflew the airport in order to troubleshoot the problem. The pilot reported that he was at 135 knots, and the fuel selector was set to the right fuel tank, which had approximately 10 gallons of fuel in it. The surging stopped, and the pilot requested a left downwind for runway 27. Within 1 minute the surging returned, he turned toward the air field, and the engine lost all power. The pilot maintained 125 knots and performed a dead stick landing on runway 31. The airplane veered off the side of the runway and into flat unprepared terrain.
The builder of the airplane related to the pilot that the SX300 has very limited wing dihedral, and the ball needs to be kept in the center, or else the fuel pickup would unport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99F
- Reported as
- Fowler SX300
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 12
- Engine
- Aero Engines IO-540, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John L. Ewing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- KLUM · Menomonie, WI
- Destination
- KCYS · Cheyenne, WY
- Airport
- KCYS · Cheyenne Regional, runway 31, 6,690 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 8,300 total · 20 in this make and model · 50 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.