Summary
On July 10, 2011, a Leineke Walter L THORP T-211 (N2075U) was involved in an accident near Cedar City, UT. The accident resulted in 1 minor injury. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this accident to be: The pilot's misjudgment of the fuel consumption, which lead to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane.
The pilot reported that he was tasked with ferrying the homebuilt airplane to its new owner. Having no prior time in the airplane, he flew it around the pattern to familiarize himself with the airplane's controls. The pilot stated that since he was not sure what the fuel burn of the airplane was he made an estimate using a similar aircraft with the same engine. After refueling the airplane to its 24 gallon maximum capacity, the pilot took off for the cross country to the destination airport. En route he climbed the airplane up to 9,500 feet, leaned the mixture, and set the engine RPM to 2500. He estimated that the engine was using 4 to 4 1/2 gallons per hour, which by his calculations would give him 5 hours of flight time at that altitude.
This accident is documented in NTSB report WPR11CA321. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N2075U.
Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot's misjudgment of the fuel consumption, which lead to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
The pilot reported that he was tasked with ferrying the homebuilt airplane to its new owner. Having no prior time in the airplane, he flew it around the pattern to familiarize himself with the airplane's controls. The pilot stated that since he was not sure what the fuel burn of the airplane was he made an estimate using a similar aircraft with the same engine. After refueling the airplane to its 24 gallon maximum capacity, the pilot took off for the cross country to the destination airport. En route he climbed the airplane up to 9,500 feet, leaned the mixture, and set the engine RPM to 2500. He estimated that the engine was using 4 to 4 1/2 gallons per hour, which by his calculations would give him 5 hours of flight time at that altitude. After 3.8 hours of flight, the pilot noticed the fuel gauge read 1/4th of a tank. About 6 minutes later, the engine quit and the pilot was forced to initiate an off airport forced landing. During the landing attempt, the pilot hit a fence which caused the airplane to impact the ground with its left wing and tumble. The airplane suffered substantial damage to both wings and part of the fuselage. The pilot stated that the fuel gauge acted normally during flight, but remained between 1/8th to 1/4th of a tank even after the airplane ran out of gas. An inspection of the fuel gauge by an A&P mechanic showed that the gauge was functional; however, the mechanic described the type of fuel gauge as typically being difficult to calibrate and that they tend to only read accurately when the tank is full. Examination of the airplane's fuel tanks showed they were empty and the fuel system was intact.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# WPR11CA321