- Date
- April 10, 1992, 07:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Casa Grande, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N115DMMcewen Dick Glasair III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920410010079A
- Case key
- 27598
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
A failure of the pilot to select the proper fuel tank and subsequent fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was an inadequate design by the manufacturer that permitted the fuel selector to be rotated 360 degrees, and the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane.
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
The pilot was on a personal cross country flight to a nearby airport. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the engine suddenly quit. Emergency procedures, including rotation of the fuel selector handle, failed to restart the engine and a forced landing area was selected on a rural dirt road. As the pilot was preparing to land, a school bus occupied the landing zone, and the pilot then selected an adjacent road. During the landing, the left wing struck trees located along the side of the road. FAA personnel reported that the fuel selector was in the off position, but placarded as the main tank position. The airplane's main wing fuel tanks contained fuel; however a header tank was empty. Maintenance personnel reported that on the evening prior to departure, the fuel selector was positioned on the header tank, which has a capacity of about 5 gallons. The pilot, who has about 10 hours of experience in the airplane, did not remember what fuel tank was selected. After the accident, the manufacturer issued a mandatory service bulletin requiring a placard detailing the fuel handle positions, and installation of mechanical stops and a movable gate to preclude inadvertent selection of the off position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N115DM
- Reported as
- Mcewen Dick Glasair III (GLASAIR II)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3029
- Airframe hours
- 127
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rothweiler, Charles
- Registered owner
- Rothweiler, Charles
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 1992 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- P10 · Chandler, AZ
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 10 in this make and model · 2,200 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
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 N115DM · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.