American AA1 N9218L

Summary

On 14 September 2018 at about 14:20 local time, a American AA1 registered N9218L was involved in an accident near Warthen, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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

14 September 2018 at 14:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Warthen, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

33.0864, -82.7511

Aircraft

American AA1

Registration

N9218L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clemson → Summerfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18TA250

2 people had minor injuries.

A fuel leak from the carburetor float bowl due to a missing plug, which resulted in excessive fuel consumption and a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to depart on the accident flight leg after noting the airplane's unexpectedly high fuel consumption during the previous leg.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that, on the day of the accident, he filled each tank of the newly purchased airplane with 12.5 gallons of fuel. On his first flight, after about 20 minutes of flying, he noticed he was running out of fuel. The pilot thought the fuel burn was very high and decided to land at the nearest airport; he added about 24 gallons of fuel. After departure and about 30 minutes of flying, he again noticed that the airplane was running out of fuel. He planned to land at the nearest airport; however, about 15 miles away from the airport, the engine lost total power. The pilot switched fuel tanks and turned on the electric boost pump, and the engine restarted. A few minutes later, the engine lost total power again. The pilot noticed both fuel tanks were out of fuel. During a forced landing in a field, the airframe was substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the carburetor float bowl plug was missing, which allowed fuel to leak out of the carburetor. Thus, the airplane's fuel consumption during the flight would have increased substantially and likely resulted in exhaustion of the airplane's available fuel supply at a greater-than-normal rate. Although the pilot reported that the airplane was recently inspected before he purchased it, no maintenance records were available for review, so the scope of work done to, or inspections of, the carburetor could not be determined. Further, the pilot's decision to depart on the accident flight leg after noting excessive fuel consumption on the previous leg contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.