findings

NTSB: Denver's Plane Short of Fuel

.c The Associated Press

By GLEN JOHNSON

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Singer John Denver died in an airplane crash because he took off with too little fuel in one tank, had trouble switching to his backup tank and inadvertently put his plane into a roll while his attention was diverted, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded today.

The board, in a 5-0 vote, also blamed a builder's decision to relocate the fuel-tank-selector handle, an absence of markings on the handle and nearby fuel gauges, as well as Denver's lack of training in his new plane. It crashed Oct. 12, 1997, off Pacific Grove, Calif.

The board urged the Federal Aviation Administration and the Experimental Aircraft Association to develop a program under which new pilots of experimental planes -- like the one Denver was flying -- would receive formalized training before their first flights. Board members noted the planes are sometimes difficult to handle.

''This is not just somebody who flew his (Cessna) 172 around the pattern,'' said board member Robert T. Francis. ``This was an experienced pilot.''

The 53-year-old singer-songwriter, famous for such hits as ``Rocky Mountain High'' and ``Sunshine On My Shoulders,'' was the lone passenger when his plane plunged about 150 feet straight into the waters off California's Monterey Peninsula.

He had bought the aircraft only two weeks earlier and had limited flying time as its pilot.

After hearing from its investigators, the board concluded that Denver's plane had only about three gallons of fuel in its left tank when he took off from the Monterey Peninsula Airport in the late afternoon to practice takeoffs and landings. The right tank had only about six gallons, but Denver declined an offer to refuel.

Witnesses said they heard a sputter, and investigators theorize that he ran out of fuel in the left tank and had trouble switching to his right tank.

The plans for Denver's homemade Long E-Z say the fuel-selector handle - which switches the fuel flow between the left and right tanks -- should be located between the pilot's legs. But the plane's builder, Texas aircraft maker Adrian Davis Jr., told investigators he put it behind the pilot's left shoulder because he did not want fuel in the cockpit.

On the day of the crash, Denver and a maintenance technician talked about the inaccessibility of the handle. ``They tried a pair of Vise Grip pliers on the handle to extend the reach of the handle, but this did not work,'' said one investigative report.

Under those circumstances, the pilot would have had to remove his shoulder harness, turn around and switch the handle. While doing so, the pilot would press on the plane's right rudder pedal, causing the aircraft to roll.

The investigators told the board that Denver may have been unfamiliar with the plane's fuel gauges and the tank-selector handle because they were not marked.

The fuel gauges -- with vertical windows showing the fuel in each wing tank -- also can be misleading because they do not represent the volume in a linear fashion. When the fuel rises to one-quarter on the window, for example, it does not indicate that the 26-gallon tank is one-quarter full. In reality, it contains less than 5 gallons.

The EAA, a widely praised private group, has developed a program to teach many first-time pilots how to make a safe transition to their new planes. The safety board now wants the FAA and EAA to require more formalized training for pilots of experimental planes.

Also, the board recommended that the FAA require markings on vital aircraft controls such as the fuel gauge and tank-selector handle, and also demand that the markings be inspected annually.

AP-NY-01-26-99 1244EST

NTSB holds final meeting into accident that killed John Denver

January 26, 1999

Web posted at: 9:52 AM EST (1452 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday held its final meeting into the cause of the airplane crash that killed singer John Denver in October 1997.

After reviewing reports from a series of technical experts, the five-member board was to settle on a cause and make any safety recommendations it felt may prevent similar accidents by other pilots.

Based on reports released last June, it appeared that low fuel, a hard-to-reach handle to switch gas tanks and modifications to his homemade airplane may have figured in Denver's crash.

The 53-year-old singer-songwriter, famous for such hits as "Rocky Mountain High" and "Sunshine On My Shoulders," was the lone passenger when his plane plunged into the waters off California's Monterey Peninsula on Oct. 12, 1997.

At the time, Denver also lacked an aviation medical certificate -- a requirement for a valid pilot's license.

The Federal Aviation Administration had disqualified Denver for the certificate in March 1997, after learning that he had violated a previous FAA order to abstain from drinking. Denver had received the warning in 1995 after being arrested for drunken driving. An autopsy showed no signs of alcohol or drugs at the time of the plane crash.

While drawing no conclusions, the preliminary report suggested factors that may have contributed to crash.

First, Denver's plane almost certainly was low on fuel when he took off from the Monterey Peninsula Airport in the late afternoon to practice takeoffs and landings. Denver bought the plane only two weeks earlier from another pilot.

Also, there were indications that Denver would have had trouble switching gas tanks if one of the two in his plane had run dry.

The plans for his homemade Long E-Z say that the fuel selector handle -- which switches the fuel flow between the left and right tanks -- should be located between the pilot's legs. But the plane's builder, aircraft maker Adrian Davis Jr., said he put it behind the pilot's left shoulder because he did not want fuel in the cockpit.

On the day of the crash, Denver and a maintenance technician talked about the inaccessibility of the handle. "They tried a pair of Vice Grip pliers on the handle to extend the reach of the handle, but this did not work," the report said.

Under those circumstances, the pilot would have had to remove his shoulder harness, turn around and switch the handle.

According to the preliminary report, Denver's plane had another modification besides the fuel selector location: a 150-horsepower engine. That was bigger than the design specifications of a 110- to 115-horsepower engine and consumed more gas than the standard engine.

The plane's designer said he had heard of some builders installing up to 200-horsepower engines with no problems.

And here's the full story from the Denver Post.

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John Denver crash report called flawed

By Peggy Lowe

Denver Post Staff Writer

Jan. 27 - An attorney for John Denver's family on Tuesday criticized the final federal report on the plane crash that killed the pop singer and said he will ask the government to reconsider its conclusion.

In a report issued Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said the crash can be blamed on the plane's design as well as pilot error. Denver, the report said, took off with too little fuel in one tank, had trouble switching to a backup fuel tank and then inadvertently put the plane into a roll.

But Bill Wimsatt, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents Denver's mother and the singer's three children, said the NTSB report is flawed. The report missed two vital issues, Wimsatt said.

First, Denver could not have added fuel to the airplane because of federal weight limitations, and to fly with any more fuel would have been illegal, Wimsatt said.

"Frankly it's such a basic mistake (by the NTSB), I don't see how they could have missed it, but they did. Big time.''

Second, Wimsatt said the NTSB's report incorrectly theorized that Denver caused the plane to roll while trying to reach the fuel selector valve. Instead, he said, Denver probably lost control of the plane because it became unbalanced after losing power.

"Their idea that he (rolled the plane by mistake) is not bad, but it's not a necessary ingredient to explain the accident,'' Wimsatt said.

"The more likely explanation is that the loss of thrust from the propeller created a change in balance that contributed to the loss of control of the airplane.'' Denver, the 53-year-old parttime Aspen resident, was killed when his small, experimental plane plunged into the ocean off Pacific Grove, Calif., on Oct. 12, 1997.

Witnesses said they heard a sputter, and federal investigators theorize that Denver ran out of fuel in the left tank and had trouble switching to his right tank.

The plans for Denver's homemade Long E-Z say the fuel selector handle, which switches the fuel flow between the left and right tanks, should be located between the pilot's legs. But the plane's builder, Texas aircraft maker Adrian Davis Jr., told investigators he put it behind the pilot's left shoulder because he did not want fuel in the cockpit.

The day of the crash, Denver and a maintenance technician talked about the handle's inaccessibility.

"They tried a pair of Vise Grip pliers on the handle to extend the reach of the handle, but this did not work,'' said one investigative report.

Under those circumstances, the pilot would have had to remove his shoulder harness, turn around and switch the handle. While doing so, Denver's right foot pressed against the right rudder, the report said, causing the aircraft to roll.

The plane had no flight data or voice recorder, so investigators had to piece together their account of the plane's final minutes. "That's just a theory,'' Wimsatt said. "You don't need to theorize in that way to explain the accident.''

But Wimsatt said he was glad the NTSB report highlighted the fuel valve. The NTSB said contributing factors included the builder's decision to relocate the fuel tank selector handle and an absence of markings on the handle and fuel gauges, as well as Denver's lack of training in his new plane. Denver's survivors have filed a lawsuit in a California court against the valve manufacturer, Imperial Valve Co., and its supplier, Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.

The suit seeks undetermined monetary damages, he said. Wimsatt represents Denver's mother, Erma Deutschendorf of Aurora, two adult children from his first marriage, Zachary and AnnaKate, and his daughter by his second wife, Jesse Belle.

Experimental and amateur-built aircraft like the Long E-Z are not subject to all Federal Aviation Administration rules. The safety board recommended that the FAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association and insurers cooperate to "strongly encourage'' pilots of new experimental planes to undergo formal training, not now required.

But an EAA official said training is already required twice a year and that pilots of experimental planes should not be singled out.

"I don't see how they can isolate that need to EAA pilots,'' said Gayle Hess, president of a San Diego EAA chapter in San Diego.

The Associated Press and The Washington Post contributed to this report.

Plane Design Faulted In Denver Crash

By Don Phillips

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 27, 1999; Page C02

John Denver's fatal plane crash apparently resulted from faulty ergonomics.

The popular singer died on Oct. 12, 1997, when his small experimental plane plunged into the Pacific Ocean just off Pacific Grove, Calif. According to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, the crash was the culmination of a series of small mistakes. But the key factor seems to have been the decision by the plane's builder to place a fuel valve switch in a hard-to-get-at location behind the pilot.

Denver's final act apparently was to reach behind his left shoulder to switch the plane's engine from one fuel tank to another. The uncomfortable stretch caused his right foot to press against the right rudder, according to a final board report. The aircraft - a single-engine Long-EZ -- pitched up, rolled to the right and slammed into the ocean.

George Petterson, the board's investigator-in-charge for the Denver crash, appeared in a board video showing what it would be like to turn the fuel switch in the cramped cockpit. His pretzellike pose, coupled with the involuntary movement of his right foot, proved persuasive to the five-member board.

The plane had no flight data or voice recorder, so investigators had to piece together their account of the plane's final minutes.

Denver's aircraft was the only Long-EZ ever built with the fuel valve in that location. All 1,200 of the others -- based on a design by experimental guru Burt Rutan -- have the switch on the console directly between the pilot's legs.

Texan Adrian Davis, who built the plane from the Rutan plans, told investigators he put the switch behind the pilot because he did not want to have fuel lines running into the cockpit, especially down where they might rupture in a belly landing. In truth, investigators said, Rutan had accounted for that possibility by strengthening the fuselage below the fuel switch.

Some of the links in the accident chain were not Denver's fault. One was his stature: He had to have a cushion behind his back to allow him to reach the rudder pedals. This also meant he had to stretch farther to reach the fuel switch.

The plane also was new to Denver; he had just bought it from its second owner. And investigators believe he was unaware that he was so low on fuel.

"He must have exhausted the fuel in his left tank," said investigator Ron Price.

Witnesses reported the engine sputtered as he climbed away from one of his practice landings. Denver likely made his final stretch in an effort to switch to the right tank, which had fuel remaining.

Experimental and amateur-built aircraft like the Long-EZ are not subject to all the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration. The safety board recommended that the FAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association and insurers cooperate to "strongly encourage" pilots of new experimental planes to undergo formal training, which is not now required.

The board also recommended better markings: The plane that Denver flew did not even have a marking on the fuel selector switch to indicate in which position the engine was drawing from the left tank, which from the right tank, and which shut the fuel lines altogether.