N916CAFlight Design General Avn Gmbh CTSW · 2021

On August 26, 2022, about 1253 Pacific daylight time, a Flight Design CTSW SuperSport airplane, N916CA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Boulder City, Nevada. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that he and his passenger were on the second flight of the day when the accident occurred. While maneuvering near a mountain range approaching his destination airport, Henderson Executive Airport (HND), Hendersen, Nevada,, he saw his fuel pressure gauge move from indicating green to 0 psi. The pilot turned on the fuel pump and soon after the engine started to “sputter.” The pilot decided to turn back to the Boulder City Municipal Airport (BVU), Boulder City, Nevada, which was the closer airport. The propeller then stopped. He attempted to restart the engine three times without success. The pilot configured the airplane for best glide and soon after realized that he was not going to make the runway at BVU. Although the airplane was equipped with an emergency parachute, he elected to execute a forced landing to an unpaved service road; subsequently, the landing gear collapsed and the airplane veered into a fence. The airplane’s wing and fuselage, including the windshield right pillar, sustained substantial damage.

During the first flight of the day, the pilot reported that the fuel selector was in the “BOTH” position for the entire 3 hour and 7-minute flight. The flight was uneventful and the airplane had consumed six gallons of fuel from the left tank and two gallons of fuel from the right tank. The airplane was refueled with 8 gallons and departed with a total of 19 gallons of fuel onboard. During the accident flight the pilot maintained equal levels of fuel in both wing tanks for about 1 hour 20 minutes into the 2-hour flight, when he placed the fuel selector to “BOTH.” Fuel flow calculations indicated that about 7.5 gallons of fuel was consumed during the flight.

The pilot further reported that the fuel tank delivery lines at the inboard side of the right wing separated, and an undetermined amount of fuel continued to pour into the cabin area as they were egressing the airplane. Both he and the passenger were soaked from fuel.

An examination of the accident site conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that the left tank was about half full of fuel and the amount of fuel in the right tank could not be determined due to the position of the airplane after the accident sequence. The main fuel shutoff valve was found in the closed position for both tanks.

The airplane’s fuel cell installation was comprised of two 17.2-gallon capacity wing tanks (1/2 gallon unusable for each tank). Manufacturer data indicated that the airplane’s engine consumed about 4.5 gallons of fuel per hour.

Postaccident examination of the engine and fuel system, including the fuel pumps, as well as the airframe revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

A Dynon SkyView panel-mounted display was downloaded and contained accident flight data. The data showed that about an hour and 50 minutes into the accident flight the fuel flow dropped from 4.7 to 3.7 gph and a few seconds later fuel pressure dropped from about 40 to 34 psi About 30 seconds later, both fuel flow and fuel pressure dropped to near zero.