Pilot Debrief

SCOTTISH AVIATION SERIES 100 MDL 101 near Chandler, AZ — 2011-06-03

Final reportWPR11LA246
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Date
2011-06-03
Location
Chandler, AZ, USA
Airport
CHD
Aircraft
SCOTTISH AVIATION SERIES 100 MDL 101
Registration
N101MY
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

A loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the engine surged and sustained a partial loss of engine power during a local night flight. He attempted to restore engine power, but was unsuccessful and made a forced landing to an open field where the airplane impacted a ditch, collapsing the landing gear and bending the firewall during the landing roll. The pilot said that the entire flight was performed with the fuel selector on the “BOTH” position and that when the engine first began to surge, the fuel gauges registered a quarter of capacity in each tank. The fuel system consisted of inner and outer interconnected tanks in each wing, which supplied fuel through a non-return valve to a fuel selector, a filter, and a booster pump grouped together near the front left seat, then through the engine-driven pump to the injector unit. Unusable fuel in each wing is 0.5 gallons. Airplane recovery personnel said that no fuel was found in the left wing tanks and about 8 gallons of fuel were found in the right wing tanks, although the gear collapse may have allowed fuel to migrate from the high wing to the low wing. The airplane was examined and no fuel system discrepancies were found. The engine was test run in the airframe and it started and ran normally.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have checked fuel levels before flight to ensure adequate fuel.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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