Colonial C 1 N257B

Summary

On 5 July 2015 at about 23:15 local time, a Colonial C 1 registered N257B, operated by Harold D Love, was involved in an accident near Chico, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 July 2015 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Chico, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Bridgeport Muni (XBP)

Coordinates

33.2900, -97.8361

Aircraft

Colonial C 1

Registration

N257B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Harold D Love

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bridgeport → Bowie

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA296

1 person was seriously injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the unsnapped fuel bladder, which resulted in an inaccurate fuel quantity indication, and the pilot's inadequate preflight fuel planning, during which he relied solely on the fuel gauges to determine the amount of fuel on board.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had flown the airplane about 8 to 10 times after its most recent fueling and that he intended to fly to the destination airport to refuel the airplane. Before departure, the fuel quantity gauge indicated that the fuel tank was about 3/8 full of fuel. About 5 minutes after departure, the engine experienced a loss of power, so the pilot conducted a forced landing in a field, during which the airplane landed hard. A postaccident examination revealed that the fuel bladder tank was collapsed, and a small amount of unmeasured fuel was observed. The fuel system remained intact, and there was no evidence of a fuel spill at the accident site. The engine operated normally when the fuel trapped in the tank was freed by rocking the wings. It is likely that the small amount of fuel in the fuel tank was unusable during the flight and was insufficient to reach the engine. The pilot stated that the fuel bladder had become unsnapped from the wing, which allowed the fuel quantity transmitter to indicate a false reading. However, the pilot did not conduct adequate preflight fuel planning to ensure there was sufficient fuel on board because he relied solely on the fuel gauges.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.