Zenith CH750 STOL N1972C

Summary

On 30 January 2017 at about 16:00 local time, a Zenith CH750 STOL registered N1972C was involved in an accident near Jennings, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 January 2017 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Jennings, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Jennings (3R7)

Coordinates

30.2433, -92.6733

Aircraft

Zenith CH750 STOL

Registration

N1972C

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jennings → Jennings

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17LA092

1 person had minor injuries.

A failure of the right fuel tank to supply fuel to the engine for reasons that could not be determined, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot had recently completed building the airplane and had flown it about 10 hours. He reported that, during that time, the airplane had experienced fuel flow issues; specifically, fuel was not flowing evenly from the wing tanks. Fuel was supplied to the engine from both tanks via gravity; the tanks were not individually selectable. To remedy the uneven fuel flows, the airplane kit manufacturer suggested that the pilot add snorkels to each vented fuel tank cap. The pilot did so; however, this did not correct the uneven fuel flow. The pilot tried several combinations before closing the vented caps completely and using only snorkels, which was the configuration of the fuel system on the day of the accident. The pilot departed on the accident flight with 7 gallons of fuel in one tank and 8 gallons in the other. He flew for about one hour, and, while returning to the airport, he noted that the left fuel tank gauge was reading low and that the right fuel tank gauge was reading high. The engine subsequently experienced a total loss of power and the pilot performed an emergency landing in a field short of the runway. Although the loss of engine power is consistent with fuel starvation, it could not be determined why the fuel in the right tank failed to supply the engine; nor could the underlying reason for the uneven fuel flow be determined based on the information available.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.