Aviat A-1C-180 N354BM

Summary

On 5 July 2015 at about 21:40 local time, a Aviat A-1C-180 registered N354BM was involved in an accident near Cincinnati, Ohio, 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 July 2015 at 21:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Coordinates

39.0319, -84.2725

Aircraft

Aviat A-1C-180

Registration

N354BM

Category

Airplane

Year built

2011

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clermont → Cincinnati

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA303

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection and fuel planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting a personal flight. After practicing stop-and-go landings, he departed, turned the airplane to the left, climbed to 1,800 ft mean sea level, reduced power to 40% to 45%, and activated the lean-of-peak assist feature on the engine instrumentation. As he leaned the mixture and watched for the first cylinder to reach peak exhaust gas temperature, a fuel flow sensor malfunction indicator light appeared on the engine instrumentation. The pilot subsequently enriched the mixture, but the sensor malfunction indication continued, and the engine lost power. After attempting to restart the engine, the pilot conducted a forced landing to a golf course. During the landing roll, the right wing tip and right elevator struck a tree, which resulted in structural damage. Examination of the engine, airframe, and fuel system did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The fuel tanks were not damaged, and there was no evidence of fuel leakage at the accident site. However, only about 2 gallons of fuel were found remaining in the airplane. The 2 gallons were unusable. The engine instrumentation system was powered up, and the "fuel remaining" indicated 17.6 gallons. Per the system pilot's guide, the pilot is required to perform a "first time set up" that includes calibrating the fuel flow transducer. This calibration has a direct input into how the system computes the airplane's remaining fuel. This task was never accomplished, which provided the pilot with an erroneous "fuel remaining" indication. The pilot reported that he did not physically check the wing tank fuel quantity tubes that were in the cockpit or "dip" the fuel tanks to verify fuel quantity. Thus, it is likely that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.