Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
Fuel starvation due to a fatigue fractured mixture control cable. Contributing factors were the soft, brush-covered emergency landing field.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Current)
Analysis
On November 1, 1997, at 0930 hours Pacific standard time, an experimental Rodgers/Gaust RV-6, N44JR, owned and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Wellington, Nevada. Neither the private pilot nor the passenger was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed during the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Bishop, California, at 0830.
According to the pilot, engine power was suddenly lost while cruising over mountainous terrain en route to Carson City, Nevada. The pilot made a forced landing in a soft dirt field which was covered with sagebrush. During rollout the airplane nosed over.
The pilot reported that the airplane had a total engine and airframe time of 114 hours. In the pilot's completed report, he indicated that the loss of engine power resulted from the engine's mixture control cable breaking at its carburetor attachment fitting. The pilot verbally reported that he believed the cable broke due to fatigue.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# LAX98LA037