Sanderson PITTS SPECIAL SPS-1 N330BL

Summary

On 5 January 2012 at about 16:30 local time, a Sanderson PITTS SPECIAL SPS-1 registered N330BL was involved in an accident near Revere, Minnesota, 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

5 January 2012 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Revere, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

44.2190, -95.3688

Aircraft

Sanderson PITTS SPECIAL SPS-1

Registration

N330BL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Madison → Faribault

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN12LA128

Nobody was injured.

The total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel contamination and the inadequate design of the fuel system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane had not been flown for over 6 months prior to the accident flight. Before departure, the pilot added about 3 gallons of fuel to the existing fuel on board the airplane. The pilot did not find contamination when he drained fuel from the main fuel tank sump drain. About 20 minutes after departure, during cruise flight, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power that led the pilot to conduct a forced landing on a road. The airplane nosed over during the landing. An examination of the airplane revealed that the airplane was not equipped, nor was it required to be equipped, with a fuel sump drain(s) for the wing tank, which drained into the main fuel tank. Water contamination was present in the fuel line leading to the carburetor, but no water contamination was noted when the main fuel tank sump—the only available sump—was drained. Accordingly, water was likely in the wing tanks and fed into the main tank after it was sumped. The water then entered the fuel lines. The lack of sump drains in the wing tanks is an inadequate design because it does not allow a pilot to remove all water from the fuel system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.