FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

ERA10LA405 · Glines SPORTSMAN GS-2

7 Aug 2010 · Morrisville, VT, United States

Glines SPORTSMAN GS-2 · Accident: loss of engine power (partial) during initial climb

From Morrisville-Stowe State Airport (MVL) to Sky Acres Airport (44N)

Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
ERA10LA405
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Glines SPORTSMAN GS-2

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N546SG
Operator
Everett S. Glines · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Morrisville-Stowe State Airport (MVL), Morrisville, VTTo Sky Acres Airport (44N), Millbrook, NY
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Initial climb
Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Loss of engine power (partial)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
  • Personnel issues › Task performance

Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane stated that while on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the annunciator system made several audible warnings stating "check fuel pressure." He noted that the fuel pressure gauge indicated low to no fuel pressure. He cycled the boost pump from the "on" position to the "off" position several times, with no effect on the fuel pressure reading. The mixture, propeller, and throttle controls appeared to be in their respective normal climb positions, but the pilot noted a decrease in engine rpm and manifold pressure. He also noticed that the rpm and manifold pressure were continuing to decline and that the engine was continuing to lose power while the annunciator continued to sound the same warning. The pilot returned to the departure airport and initiated a flare. The airplane touched down hard on the runway and veered to the left. Despite the pilot's control inputs, the airplane would not respond to rudder or brake inputs and departed off the left side of the runway, nosing over inverted.

Postaccident examination of the airframe, engine assembly and accessories did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunction. An engine test run and flow check was conducted with no anomalies noted. Data retrieved from the airplane's multi-function display confirmed the erratic fuel flow during the accident flight; however, the anomaly could not be duplicated during postaccident testing. The reason for the loss of fuel pressure could not be determined.

Probable cause

The pilot's improper flare during a forced landing. Contributing to the accident was a loss of fuel pressure for undetermined reasons.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ERA10LA405
Event ID
20100807X85410
Case number
ERA10LA405
Dataset
full-current
Source SHA-256
5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: cbc048d56f2a46520dabac43393b1f08fda10ba75d6c1fac5832076ade7136ce; retrieved 2026-09-15T14:48:27.482Z.