Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB ERA09LA182
MOORE GLENN MORONCA — Burgaw, NC
| Date | March 5, 2009 |
| Location | Burgaw, NC |
| Aircraft | MOORE GLENN MORONCA (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Emergency descent Off-field or emergency landing |
| Pilot age | 80 |
| Pilot total time | 1,658 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome
- Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Fuel system-Fuel storage-Damaged/degraded
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
What happened
A witness reported hearing an airplane’s engine sputter before hearing the crash. The airplane appeared to have clipped trees on its descent to the field, impacted the ground nose first, and bounced once to its final resting place. A postcrash examination found small particle contaminants in the airplane’s fuel system. The interior of the tank was found to be deteriorating and flaking apart. The amateur-built airplane was issued an experimental airworthiness certificate on April 12, 2008. The fuselage was primarily Aeronca with the wings and landing gear system designed by the owner/pilot. The airplane had accumulated a total of 47.21 hours since the time it was built. Its last inspection, a conditional, took place on November 28, 2008 and the airplane flew seven hours between that inspection and the time of the accident. Six weeks prior to the accident the pilot had reported that the airplane’s engine had cut out. The pilot told his friend he found some debris in the fuel tank and that he would “keep an eye on it.” The cross bar, to which the pilot’s shoulder harness was secured, separated from the airframe at impact.