- Date
- March 21, 2008, 13:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Wauchula, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N166LSRans S12XL
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080321836739A
- Case key
- 67711
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 malfunction of the fuel line, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 3
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
The amateur-built Rans S12XL's engine lost power while making an overhead approach to the destination airport. The pilot then performed an emergency landing in the grass to the west of the single runway, and during the landing roll the left main gear "went into a hole and collapsed." During the collapse, the structural tubing of the fuselage was damaged. Examination of the fuel system revealed that the fuel supply line to the fuel pump was cracked, resulting in fuel starvation to the engine.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot of an amateur-built Rans S12XL, the airplane's engine lost power while making an overhead approach to the destination airport. The pilot then performed an emergency landing in the grass to the west of the single runway, and during the landing roll the left main gear "went into a hole and collapsed." During the collapse, the structural tubing of the fuselage was damaged. Examination of the fuel system by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the fuel supply line to the fuel pump was cracked, resulting in fuel starvation to the engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N166LS
- Reported as
- Rans S12XL
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 02020942
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jay B. Kurtz
- Registered owner
- Robert Craig McGarvey Sr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special); Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- X49 · Mulberry, FL
- Destination
- CHN · Wauchula, FL
- Airport
- CHN · Wachula Municipal Airport
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 1,300 in this make and model · 1,900 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- LAL, 29 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.