- Date
- October 14, 2007, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bigfork, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N475TWWelch RV-9
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20071014021929A
- Case key
- 66898
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
Fuel starvation while on downwind for landing. The pilot's inadequate in-flight fuel management planning was a factor.
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 reported that at the completion of a third flight for the day, he was returning to the airport for landing. The flight entered downwind when the engine sputtered, ran smoothly, then lost power. The pilot switched the fuel selector from the right tank to the left tank and attempted to restart the engine. The engine would not start and the pilot initially thought that he could make the end of the runway, however the aircraft lost altitude and the landing gear hit the edge of the road short of the runway and the aircraft slid through a barb wire fence and onto the runway. Both wings and the tail section were substantially damaged. After the accident, the pilot stated that he found the right fuel tank "extremely low" and the left fuel tank about a third full. The pilot continued to state that after changing to the left fuel tank, he believed that the fuel pump did not fill the header tank fast enough for an engine restart.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that at the completion of a third flight for the day, he was returning to the airport for landing. The flight entered downwind when the engine sputtered, ran smoothly, then lost power. The pilot switched the fuel selector from the right tank to the left tank and attempted to restart the engine. The engine would not start and the pilot initially thought that he could make the end of the runway, however the aircraft lost altitude and the landing gear hit the edge of the road short of the runway and the aircraft slid through a barb wire fence and onto the runway. Both wings and the tail section were substantially damaged.
After the accident, the pilot stated that he found the right fuel tank "extremely low" and the left fuel tank about a third full. The pilot continued to state that after changing to the left fuel tank, he believed that the fuel pump did not fill the header tank fast enough for an engine restart.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N475TW
- Reported as
- Welch RV-9
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 90475
- Engine
- Subaru Unknown, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bruce W. Piasecki
- Registered owner
- Thomas Welch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- 53U · Bigfork, MT
- Destination
- 53U
- Airport
- 53U · Ferndale, runway 33, 3,500 × 95 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 354 total · 72 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N475TW · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.