Perlick AVID COMMUTER N142LP

Summary

On 28 April 2001 at about 23:30 local time, a Perlick AVID COMMUTER registered N142LP, operated by Darwin Sonders, was involved in an accident near Crawford, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 April 2001 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Crawford, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Scott Field (Private)

Coordinates

31.5297, -97.4396

Aircraft

Perlick AVID COMMUTER

Registration

N142LP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Darwin Sonders

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crawford → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01LA110

Nobody was injured.

the loss of engine power on takeoff initial climb due to fuel starvation as a result of an air blocked fuel line. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The amateur-built experimental airplane had not been flown for a period of time. During the preflight, at the owner's direction, the old fuel was drained. Subsequently, nine gallons of fuel were put in the aircraft. No discrepancies were noted during the runup and pretakeoff taxi. During the takeoff/initial climb, when the pilot banked the airplane to the right the engine "stopped running." The airplane was 150-200 feet agl and there were a building and trees in the forced landing flight path. The pilot turned the airplane left for landing in a corn field; however, as he flared the airplane, he "felt a tremendous sink rate, then the impact." The airplane flipped to the inverted position. The aircraft owner reported that "air blocked the line to the header fuel tank."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.