NTSB Factual Report

On December 8, 2004, about 1224 eastern standard time, an amateur built Seawind, N42HA, was substantially damaged during a forced landing at the Trenton Mercer Airport (TTN), Trenton, New Jersey. The certificated flight instructor and commercial pilot owner were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local instructional flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The experimental amphibious airplane was powered by an Allison 250 turboprop engine. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the flight instructor was conducting a flight review. After executing a practice instrument landing system approach for runway 6 that terminated in a low approach, the pilot began a climb to continue the rest of the flight.

During the climb, the flight instructor directed the pilot to turn northeast towards the Princeton Airport (39N), Princeton, New Jersey. When the airplane was approximately over the Twin Pine Airport (N75), Pennington, New Jersey, the engine began to "surge". After discussion with the flight instructor, the pilot decided to return to TTN. During the descent the engine continued to surge and eventually lost all power. About 15 feet above the grass, off of the approach end of runway 24, the airplane "stalled" and experienced a hard landing.

A post accident inspection of the airframe was conducted under the supervision of an FAA inspector. The examination revealed that both main landing gear legs had separated from the fuselage, and the engine had been displaced downward by approximately 10 degrees. Further inspection also showed that the engine mount had been bent and broken, and the lower engine mount retaining bolt had been sheared. Additionally, the composite structure had sustained multiple cracks, and about a 6 inch long by 2 inch wide gouge that corresponded approximately to the location of the propeller arc, was present behind the cockpit.

Examination of the airplane's fuel system noted that the fuel system incorporated into the accident airplane held a total of 170 gallons of fuel. Composed of multiple tanks, the two main tanks were each capable of holding 30 gallons and could simultaneously provide fuel to the engine. Two auxiliary tanks each capable of holding 30 gallons, and two wingtip tanks each capable of holding 25 gallons could also be selected via transfer pumps, to replenish the main tanks. A fuel transfer valve, flow meter and fuel quantity indicator were also installed. However, the fuel quantity indicator could only show the quantity of the left and right, main tanks, and the fuel totalizer function on the flow meter was inoperative.

Following the accident, it was revealed that the fuel transfer valve was in the "open" position, and only about 1 gallon of fuel was present in the left main tank, approximately 11 gallons in the right main tank, and 14 gallons in the right auxiliary tank. Both wingtip fuel tanks, and the left auxiliary fuel tank, were absent of fuel.

Two fuel samples were taken from the airplane's sump drains for examination. Both samples were bright, clear, and no visible contamination or water could be observed. A check of both samples was performed using water-finding paste, and no color change was observed.

A detailed examination and test cell run of the engine was conducted under the supervision of an FAA inspector at Keystone Engine Services Inc., Coatesville, Pennsylvania, on February 1, 2005. The examination of the engine did not reveal evidence of any pre-impact failures and all engine response times were within limits during the test run.

During a telephone interview, the flight instructor stated that he had been told that their was about 1 to 1.5 hours of fuel on board, and that they had been airborne only about 25 minutes when the engine lost power.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper fuel management which resulted in fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power. A contributing factor to the accident was the pilot's inadvertent loss of airspeed.