Rans S-12 N107JL

Summary

On 16 April 2011 at about 15:05 local time, a Rans S-12 registered N107JL was involved in an accident near Marana, Arizona, 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

16 April 2011 at 15:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Marana, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Pinal Airpark (MZJ)

Coordinates

32.5097, -111.3253

Aircraft

Rans S-12

Registration

N107JL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Avra Valley → Young

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11LA202

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to conduct an adequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine coolant during climb due to an unsecured tank cap. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to use available engine power to ensure a landing on an appropriate surface.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before the flight, the sport pilot fueled the experimental, amateur-built, light-sport airplane and conducted a preflight inspection without the aid of a checklist. He and his passenger then departed for a destination about 110 miles away. About 14 minutes after takeoff, during the climb, the passenger smelled engine coolant, and the pilot observed excessively high engine oil and coolant temperature indications. He reduced engine rpm and decided to conduct a precautionary landing at a non-towered airport south of his current position. When the airplane was north of the runway threshold, he realized that he would not reach the runway and aimed instead for the airport ramp. He then realized he would not reach the ramp and intentionally allowed the airplane to stall onto the flat earthen floor of a water catchment basin. The pilot did not use available engine power during the descent to ensure a landing on an appropriate surface, even though the engine remained running until he shut it down after impact. Examination of the airplane revealed that the engine coolant had drained in flight due to an unsecured system cap. The pilot stated that he did not check the coolant system during his preflight inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.