Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB WPR12LA277
REHN KITFOX IV — Vancouver, WA
| Date | June 27, 2012 |
| Location | Vancouver, WA |
| Aircraft | REHN KITFOX IV (amateur-built) |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering-low-alt flying Loss of control in flight |
| Pilot age | 42 |
| Pilot total time | 415 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1, 1 serious |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine fuel and control-Fuel control/carburetor-Not specified - F
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
Shortly after the airplane took off, a witness heard sounds indicative of an engine problem. The airplane started to make a controlled turn back to the runway; however, it subsequently experienced an aerodynamic stall and crashed at a 45-degree nose-down attitude. The airplane's annual inspection had been completed the week before the accident and the accident flight appeared to be the first flight after the inspection. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed an orange rubber-like debris in the right-hand carburetor bowl. The debris was similar to the RTV fire sleeve material used to insulate the fuel lines that resided in the airplane's engine compartment. How the orange rubber/RTV material came to reside in the carburetor bowl could not be determined; however, foreign material in the carburetor bowl could block a carburetor main jet, resulting in a partial to complete loss of engine power.