Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB CEN09LA266
MCGRATH ROBERT F SONEX — Louisville, OH
| Date | April 25, 2009 |
| Location | Louisville, OH |
| Aircraft | MCGRATH ROBERT F SONEX (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Emergency descent Loss of control in flight |
| Pilot age | 87 |
| Pilot total time | 325 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Response/compensation - F
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - F
- Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Not specified
What happened
The pilot departed his home airstrip with 3 to 4 gallons of fuel on board to fly to a nearby airport for fuel. The winds at the time of departure were calm. The pilot landed at a nearby airport, but did not purchase fuel. He then took off to fly back to his home airstrip. The accident occurred as the pilot was approaching his home airstrip land. According to witnesses, the engine was not producing power when the airplane banked to the right and descended nose first, consistent with an aerodynamic stall into a wooded area just northwest of the runway. Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed that less than 5 ounces of fuel was present in the fuel tank. No fuel was present in the fuel lines or gascolator, nor was there an odor of fuel at the accident site. According to a global positioning system used by the pilot, the flight was approximately 40 minutes long. The airplane consumes about 4 gallons of fuel per hour. Winds reported 10 miles from the accident site were from 240 degrees at 18 knots gusting to 26 knots.