Leineke Walter L THORP T-211 N2075U

Summary

On 10 July 2011 at about 19:25 local time, a Leineke Walter L THORP T-211 registered N2075U, operated by Randal S Dippold, was involved in an accident near Cedar City, Utah, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 July 2011 at 19:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Cedar City, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Cedar City (CDC)

Coordinates

37.7017, -113.1092

Aircraft

Leineke Walter L THORP T-211

Registration

N2075U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Randal S Dippold

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Carson City → Cedar City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11CA321

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's misjudgment of the fuel consumption, which lead to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was ferrying the homebuilt airplane to its new owner when the accident occurred. Having no prior time in the airplane, he flew it around the pattern to familiarize himself with the airplane's controls. The pilot stated that since he was not sure what the fuel burn of the airplane was he made an estimate using a similar aircraft with the same engine. After refueling the airplane to its 24 gallon maximum capacity, the pilot departed for the cross country flight to the destination airport. En route he climbed the airplane to 9,500 feet, leaned the mixture, and set the engine rpm to 2500. He estimated that the engine was using 4 to 4 1/2 gallons per hour, which by his calculations would give him 5 hours of flight time at that altitude. After 3.8 hours of flight, the pilot noticed the fuel gauge read 1/4 of a tank. About 6 minutes later, the engine lost power and the pilot initiated an off-airport landing. During the landing attempt, the airplane impacted a fence, struck the ground with its left wing, and tumbled. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot stated that the fuel gauge acted normally during flight, but remained between 1/8 to 1/4 of a tank even after the airplane ran out of gas. An inspection of the fuel gauge by a mechanic showed that the gauge was functional; however, the mechanic described the type of fuel gauge as typically being difficult to calibrate and that they tend to only read accurately when the tank is full. Examination of the airplane's fuel tanks showed they were empty and the fuel system was intact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.