- Date
- March 16, 1995, 17:37 local (22:37 UTC)
- Place
- New Windsor, MD
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4TCumberland-Pitts Special S1C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950316004099A
- Case key
- 38934
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 failure of the fuel pump diagram which resulted in fuel starvation and a subsequent forced landing.
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 stated that while in cruise, on a personal flight, the engine started to run rough. The pilot tried to eliminate the roughness by use of a hand wobble fuel pump and switching to the left and right magnetos. The engine initially got better, then got worse, followed by a total loss of power. The pilot made a forced landing in a backyard. The pilot further stated that the landing gear broke on landing 'because I hit too hard.' During the post accident examination, the federal aviation administration inspector found that the fuel pump diaphragm was ruptured.
Factual narrative
On Thursday, March 16, 1995, about 1737 eastern standard time, a Pitts Special, N4T, owned and operated by William T. Cumberland, was substantially damaged during a forced landing at New Windsor, Maryland. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. There was no flight plan for the local flight being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot departed Westminster, Maryland about 1630 on a personal flight. While in cruise flight the engine started to run rough. In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated,
...Engine started to run rough...and [I] tried the hand wobble fuel pump. Engine started to run better and then it got worse. Tried both magnetos....The engine stopped running....I picked out a corn field and headed for that. I ran out of altitude before I got to the field [and] landed in [a] backyard....Broke landing gear because I hit too hard.
Post accident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, revealed that the fuel pump diaphragm had ruptured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4T
- Reported as
- Cumberland-Pitts Special S1C
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 01
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cumberland, William T.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 1994 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- W54 · Westminster, MD
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 350 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MTN, 45 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.