World SPIRIT N65XT

Summary

On 7 August 2015 at about 16:40 local time, a World SPIRIT registered N65XT was involved in an accident near Granbury, Texas, 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

7 August 2015 at 16:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Granbury, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.4605, -97.7096

Aircraft

World SPIRIT

Registration

N65XT

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

Wichita Falls → Granbury

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA355

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to use the fuel boost pump following the loss of engine power and the fuel system’s inadequate design, which did not allow for equalization of fuel between the fuel tanks and led to a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and subsequent forced landing.

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 cross-country flight. The pilot reported that, when the airplane was about 4 miles from the airport, he made a series of prolonged left turns at cruise altitude to allow another airplane that was in the area to land at the airport. After making the left turns, the engine experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot performed a forced landing on a tall grass field after being unable to restart the engine. The pilot was unable to slow the airplane with full application of wheel brakes due to the tall grass, and the airplane impacted a barbed wire fence and then came to rest. Examination of the wreckage showed that the fuel system design did not allow for the equalization of fuel between the fuel tanks, which led to the engine being starved of fuel following the sustained left turns. The pilot did not use the fuel boost pump while troubleshooting the loss of engine power, which would have provided a positive fuel flow/pressure to the engine and resolved the fuel starvation condition. Following the postaccident examination of the airplane, the airplane manufacturer modified the fuel system to allow for the equalization of fuel between the fuel tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.