CEN17LA368 · Eris E. Ervin Quicksilver GT 400S
Eris E. Ervin Quicksilver GT 400S · Accident: loss of engine power (total) during initial climb
From Blackwood Airpark (TX46) to Blackwood Airpark (TX46)
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN17LA368
- 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
- 1 · 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
Eris E. Ervin Quicksilver GT 400S
- Aircraft type
- Eris E Ervin QUICKSILVER
- 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
- N5112S
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Blackwood Airpark (TX46), Cleburne, TXTo Blackwood Airpark (TX46), Cleburne, TX
- Aircraft age
- About 23 years (built 1994)
- 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 (total)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The noncertificated pilot was departing in the experimental light sport airplane when the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to return to the runway, but the airplane impacted trees and a fence west of the departure end of the runway. Examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel line between the fuel tank and engine was brittle and cracked and had broken. Both carburetor bowls were dry. Additionally, putty was found at the fuel tank outlet connector, consistent with a repair to prevent or fix a fuel leak, and the engine air filter was dirty. Although no maintenance records were located, the condition of the engine and its components suggested that it was not being properly maintained. It is likely that the engine experienced a total loss of power due to fuel starvation as a result of the broken fuel line; the loss of engine power prevented the pilot from reaching a suitable landing area. Toxicological testing found potentially impairing drugs in the pilot; however, it is unlikely that the negative effects of the drugs directly contributed to the outcome of this accident.
Probable cause
An engine loss of power due to fuel starvation from a broken fuel line between the fuel tank and the engine; the loss of engine power prevented the pilot from reaching a suitable landing area. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate maintenance of the engine and its components.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN17LA368
- Event ID
- 20170926X23016
- Case number
- CEN17LA368
- 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. 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: ae9bdfe2d5270df656ff9f02d81ee42a24c5bdea71663ae474ed4b7dffce09e8; retrieved 2026-09-15T06:18:11.827Z.