Chumsae KITFOX SPEEDSTER N124KF

Summary

On 27 November 2004 at about 19:20 local time, a Chumsae KITFOX SPEEDSTER registered N124KF was involved in an accident near Sterling, Massachusetts, 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

27 November 2004 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Sterling, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Sterling Airport (3B3)

Coordinates

42.4258, -71.7928

Aircraft

Chumsae KITFOX SPEEDSTER

Registration

N124KF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Keene → Sterling

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD05LA017

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While approaching the destination airport, the homebuilt airplane's Rotax engine began to sputter and then stopped completely. The pilot attempted to glide the airplane to the runway, but due to the descent rate, he elected to land in trees 100 feet short of it. Examination of the fuel tanks revealed that no fuel was present. The airplane was equipped with two 13-gallon fuel tanks and a 0.9-gallon header tank. Prior to his initial departure, the pilot estimated that the left fuel tank was 3/8 full and the right fuel tank was 1/4 full. He subsequently flew the airplane on two 45-minute flights before the engine stopped, and estimated the total engine running time to be 2 hours plus. He also estimated the fuel consumption rate of the engine to be about 3.7 to 4 gallons per hour based on fuel consumption calculations from previous flights. The airplane kit manufacturer stated that the engine consumed about 4.5 gallons of fuel per hour at a cruise power setting, and about 6 gallons of fuel per hour at a high power setting.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.