Mohr STARDUSTER TOO N3696

Summary

On 23 March 2003 at about 20:00 local time, a Mohr STARDUSTER TOO registered N3696 was involved in an accident near Espanola, New Mexico, United States. 2 people were 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

23 March 2003 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Espanola, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

36.0000, -106.1000

Aircraft

Mohr STARDUSTER TOO

Registration

N3696

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

La Junta → Taos

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03LA055

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's improper inflight planning in that he failed to consult the airplane flight manual, his use of incorrect fuel consumption figures, and fuel exhaustion. Contributing factors were the loss of the en route chart, the unavailability of a nav/comm radio, the pilot becoming lost/disoriented, and the berm.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was ferrying the airplane to its new owner. He stopped en route and refueled the airplane with approximately 18 gallons of fuel. This filled the tank to capacity. He "stuck" (or dipsticked) the tank "to determine fuel capacity and figured it must be close to what we were told (30 gallons). Apparently, it doesn't hold quite that much." After takeoff, he lost sight of the airplane he had been following. He elected to continue the flight. The airplane was not equipped with a navigation or communication radio. During this leg of the flight, the navigation chart blew out of the open cockpit. The pilot said he thought he could remember where he was going, but misidentified a landmark and crossed the mountains south of where he thought he was. As he circled a town to reorient himself, the engine lost power "due to fuel exhaustion." The airplane had been aloft 2 hours, 20 minutes. The pilot made a forced landing on a golf course, which he described as "unsuitable terrain." During the landing, the airplane struck an earth berm that tore off the landing gear. The lower right wing tip on the biplane was crushed and the propeller was bent.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.