Williams RV-4 N475F

Summary

On 3 October 2003 at about 21:25 local time, a Williams RV-4 registered N475F was involved in an accident near Metz, West Virginia, 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

3 October 2003 at 21:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Metz, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Morgantown (MGW)

Coordinates

39.6106, -80.3769

Aircraft

Williams RV-4

Registration

N475F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Danville → Morgantown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC04CA001

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to operate without accurate fuel gauges, which resulted in a power loss due to fuel exhaustion, and an off airport landing

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was en route to his home base, with a homebuilt kit airplane when the engine lost power, after about 2.4 hours of flight. During the forced landing the airplane struck an electrical pole. Examination revealed the fuel tanks were empty, and there was no evidence of a fuel spill on the ground, although both fuel tanks were ruptured. There was no blue staining on the top of the wings, or under the fuselage, although heavy rains had fallen for two days between the accident, and its examination by the FAA. There were no loose fittings on the fuel line leading to the engine. The spark plugs were slate gray in appearance, and thumb compression was found in all cylinders. The pilot reported that the fuel gauges were inaccurate and fuel consumption on the 2 previous flights had averaged between 8.5 and 9.5 gallons per hour. At the last refueling, the pilot had requested that the fuel servicing person leave about 1 inch of space at the top of the fuel tank. The pilot reported that when he preflighted the airplane, he thought the fuel level was down about 1 inch from the top of the tank, The fuel tanks were reported to hold 16 gallons in each wing. A representative of the kit manufacturer reported that the fuel tank capacity could vary by a few gallons, along with the amount of unusable fuel due to variations in fuel tank assembly by builders. The experimental operating limitations issued by the FAA for the airplane required an operative fuel indicating system to indicate the amount of fuel in each tank.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.