- Date
- October 4, 2001, 20:00 local (Oct 5, 2001, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fayetteville, OH
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3963WReindl CGS Hawk A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20011004032379A
- Case key
- 53572
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
The owner/mechanic's inadequate annual inspection. A factor related to the accident was the rotted fuel line which separated from it's connection at the fuel pump.
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
After departing from a private airstrip, the pilot climbed to traffic pattern altitude. At altitude, he encountered gusting wind conditions and elected to land. On the base leg of the approach, the engine lost power. The pilot performed a forced landing to an up-sloping field, where the airplane touched down hard, and came to rest upright. Inspection of the engine revealed that a thin rubber line, which was connected from the engine driven vacuum pump to the pneumatic fuel pump, was dry rotted and broken off from it's connection at the pneumatic fuel pump. The pilot had completed an annual inspection of the airplane prior to the accident flight.
Factual narrative
On October 4, 2001, about 2000 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt CGS Hawk A, N3963W, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to a private airstrip near Fayetteville, Ohio. The certificated private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he had departed from the private airstrip, and climbed to traffic pattern altitude. At altitude, he encountered gusting wind conditions and elected to land. On the base leg of the approach, the engine lost power. The pilot performed a forced landing to an up-sloping field, where the airplane touched down hard, and came to rest upright.
Inspection of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the cockpit area had separated from the remainder of the fuselage.
Inspection of the engine revealed that a thin rubber line, which connected the engine driven vacuum pump to the pneumatic fuel pump, was dry rotted and broken off from it's connection at the pneumatic fuel pump.
The FAA inspector also noted that the fuel supply was located below the area where the engine was mounted onto the airframe.
The pilot further stated that he had completed most of the airplane's annual inspection, and performed an engine run-up prior to the accident flight. No abnormalities were noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3963W
- Reported as
- Reindl CGS Hawk A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- H-4-140-C
- Airframe hours
- 1,350
- Engine
- Rotax 447, 40 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Frank J. Reindl
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 4, 2001 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Fayetteville, OH
- Destination
- Fayetteville, OH
- Airport
- NONE, runway S, 3,000 × 70 ft, grass/turf
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
- 66
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- September 10, 1999
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,700 total · 1,350 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- ILN, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.