- Date
- October 7, 1995, 14:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- North Plains, OR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N96VAVans RV-6T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951007031409A
- Case key
- 42299
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 due to the failure of the left tank fuel quantity sending unit which resulted in a false indication of fuel quantity. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the 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
While on approach for landing, the pilot selected the left fuel tank which was indicating more than 3/4 full. About 1/2 mile from the end of the runway, the engine lost all power. The pilot made a forced landing in a field of raspberries, and during the landing flare the aircraft collided with steel fence posts and static wires used to support the raspberries. The left tank was found dry. An internal failure in the left tank fuel quantity sending unit had caused it to give a false indication.
Factual narrative
On October 7, 1995, approximately 1445 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Vans RV-6T, N96VA, collided with several objects during a forced landing about one-eighth mile from Sunset Airpark, North Plains, Oregon. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Gold Beach, Oregon approximately 1315, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and the ELT, which was activated by the impact, was turned off at the scene.
According to the pilot, he switched to the aircraft's left tank, which indicated more than three-quarters full, while on approach to land at Sunset Airpark. Just over one-half mile from the end of the runway, the engine experienced a complete loss of power. The pilot switched back to the right tank, but because of his close proximity to the ground, he could not get the engine started in time to avoid a forced landing in a field of raspberries. During the landing flare, the aircraft collided with steel fence posts and static wires used to support the berries.
It was later determined that the left fuel tank was empty at the time of the accident, but a false fuel quantity indication had been generated by a malfunctioning fuel-quantity sending unit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N96VA
- Reported as
- Vans RV-6T
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2
- Airframe hours
- 189
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Vans Aircraft Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- AAIP · August 15, 1995 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- 4S1 · Gold Beach, OR
- Destination
- 10R3
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 489 total · 339 in this make and model · 456 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
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 N96VA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.