Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A contributing factor was the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning and decision making.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On October 4, 2003, approximately 1452 central daylight time, a Price Cuby Acro Trainer single-engine experimental airplane, N300HS, registered to and operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Canutillo, Texas. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The cross-country flight departed the Sky Ranch at Carefree Airport (18AZ), Carefree, Arizona, approximately 1030 mountain daylight time, and was destined for El Paso International Airport (ELP), near El Paso, Texas.
The 800-hour pilot reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge after a previous flight that morning, he refueled the airplane with 29 gallons of fuel. He planned for a fuel burn of 6 gal/hr, and had a groundspeed of 95 plus knots due to favorable winds. The pilot reported that he had about 1 inch of fuel indicating on the fuel sight gauges, and they indicate empty when there is no fuel left in the wing tanks. There was no mixture control, but the fuel injector compensated for altitude. During cruise flight, he decided to not stop at his original fuel stop, which was Lordsburg Municipal Airport (LSB), near Lordsburg, New Mexico, and he elected to continue on to his final destination.
Approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes into the flight, while at 6,500 feet msl, the engine "suddenly lost power," and he initiated a forced landing to a nearby gravel road. During the landing roll, he noticed some children were directly in front of the aircraft and applied maximum breaking to avoid them. Subsequently, the airplane nosed-over and came to rest on its nose. The pilot reported the airplane ran out of fuel. No performance data was available besides that recorded from the previous owner/builder of the airplane.
According to the FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, the front cowling was bent, and the rudder had sustained structural damage.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# FTW04CA002