21 Jun 2008: Flight Design GMBH CTSW — John R. Rimmer III

21 Jun 2008: Flight Design GMBH CTSW (N460CT) — John R. Rimmer III

No fatalities • Von Ormy, TX, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident were a proper touchdown point was not possible and the inadequate display of the fuel quantity indicator.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On June 21, 2008, at 1613 central daylight time, a Flight Design GMBH CTSW, N460CT, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it struck a fence and nosed over during a forced landing after the engine lost power near Von Ormy, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot and passenger on board the airplane were not injured. The cross-country flight originated in Houston (SGR), Texas, at 1430, and was en route to Castorville (T89), Texas.

According to the pilot's accident report, he was at 5,000 feet msl (above mean sea level) and was being vectored through San Antonio (SAT) airspace by SAT approach control. The engine began to sputter and then it "stopped." The pilot was unable to restart the engine, so he moved the propeller to the horizontal position "to protect the engine during touchdown." He selected a "good field" in level pastureland for the forced landing. After turning onto the base leg, he noticed a number of horses grazing at the beginning of the field and he turned on final approach sooner than intended. This moved his touchdown point further downfield than he wanted. Indicated airspeed was 50 mph in the flare. He lowered the flaps to 40 degrees. As soon as he cleared the horses, he retracted the flaps to "increase the friction of the brakes on the grassy pasture surface. This made the pasture a little short" and the airplane overran the end and struck a wire fence, collapsing the nose gear and buckling the composite structure.

The pilot admitted that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion "which could have been avoided by obtaining fuel at the last stop." He said the airplane was not equipped with in-flight readable fuel indicators, only a dipstick gauge, and this makes it "tricky to utilize the full 34 gallon capacity." He concluded that "an accurate fuel gauge and experience with timing and fuel usage at a certain RPM would have solved this fuel management problem." He recommended that "the fuel indicator tubes in the wing roots be changed at every annual inspection."

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • factor Contributed to outcome
  • cause Pilot
  • Animal(s)/bird(s)
  • Fence/fence post
  • factor Descent/approach/glide path — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 000/00kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.