Rans S-7 N4272M

Summary

On 1 May 2009 at about 19:30 local time, a Rans S-7 registered N4272M, operated by Errol Spaulding, was involved in an accident near Atomic City, Idaho, 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

1 May 2009 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Atomic City, Idaho, United States

Nearest airport

Coxs Well (U48)

Coordinates

43.2181, -113.2272

Aircraft

Rans S-7

Registration

N4272M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Errol Spaulding

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atomic City → Atomic City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09CA225

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's inadequate fuel management.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot/owner and a pilot rated passenger flew to a local airport for a brief stop, and then continued to another nearby airport where the passenger performed a touch-and-go. He had begun a slight right turn during the climbout from the touch-and-go when the engine lost power about 250 feet above ground level (agl). The owner took control, turned back to the left, and tried to land on the end of the runway. He leveled off slightly about 20 feet agl, and then flared for landing. The airplane landed hard on the north side of the runway and the right wheel broke off. The landing gear dug into the turf, the airplane spun 180 degrees, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The airframe around the tailwheel and rudder sustained substantial damage. The owner indicated that the airplane had a header tank that was the only fuel supply for the engine in addition to the wing tanks that were used to supply the header tank. He used an electric fuel pump to manually transfer fuel from the wing tanks to the header tank. He stated that he usually did not let the header tank get less than half full since the fuel pick-up port for the engine driven pump is at the front of the tank. He said that he probably let the fuel level get too low on this flight. During the climbout with the nose up, he surmised that the header tank fuel pick-up unported, resulting in the loss of power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.