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Accidents · NTSB WPR11LA246 · Final report

Scottish Aviation SERIES 100 MDL 101 accident near Chandler, Arizona, June 3, 2011

On June 3, 2011 at about 3:00 am local time, a Scottish Aviation SERIES 100 MDL 101, registered N101MY, was substantially damaged in an accident during approach near Chandler, Arizona (Chandler Municipal airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).

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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged

A loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.

What the record shows

Date
June 3, 2011 · about 3:00 am local time
Place
Chandler, Arizona · Chandler Municipal · map
Type
Accident
Injuries
No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
Weather
visual conditions (good weather)
Aircraft
Scottish Aviation SERIES 100 MDL 101 · all SERIES 100 MDL 101s on the register
Registration
N101MY · no longer on the register · serial 166
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot reported that the engine surged and sustained a partial loss of engine power during a local night flight. He attempted to restore engine power, but was unsuccessful and made a forced landing to an open field where the airplane impacted a ditch, collapsing the landing gear and bending the firewall during the landing roll. The pilot said that the entire flight was performed with the fuel selector on the “BOTH” position and that when the engine first began to surge, the fuel gauges registered a quarter of capacity in each tank. The fuel system consisted of inner and outer interconnected tanks in each wing, which supplied fuel through a non-return valve to a fuel selector, a filter, and a booster pump grouped together near the front left seat, then through the engine-driven pump to the injector unit. Unusable fuel in each wing is 0.5 gallons. Airplane recovery personnel said that no fuel was found in the left wing tanks and about 8 gallons of fuel were found in the right wing tanks, although the gear collapse may have allowed fuel to migrate from the high wing to the low wing. The airplane was examined and no fuel system discrepancies were found. The engine was test run in the airframe and it started and ran normally.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.

The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English

What happened, in order

  1. Loss of engine power (partial) during approach defining event
  2. Off-field or emergency landing during emergency descent
  3. Nose over/nose down during landing (landing roll)

The NTSB's findings

  • cause Not determined › Not determined › (general) › (general) › Unknown/Not determined

Pilot

  • Certificate: airline transport pilot
  • Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
  • Flight time: 28,000 hours in all; 300 in this make and model; 10 in the last 90 days; 3 in the last 30 days; 20,000 as pilot in command
  • Last flight review: February 21, 2011
  • Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
  • Seat: left
  • Injury: no injuries

The aircraft

  • Airframe total time: 4,815 hours
  • Last inspection: condition inspection, August 14, 2010; 13 hours since
  • Maximum gross weight: 2,350 lb
  • Seats: 3
  • Landing gear: fixed
  • Engine: Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 (piston); 0 hours total

The flight

  • Departed from: CHD Chandler AZ at 2:15 am
  • Destination: CHD Chandler AZ
  • Flight plan: none

Weather at the time

  • Light: dusk
  • Visibility: 10 statute miles
  • Sky: clear
  • Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)

Injuries

FatalSeriousMinorNone
Flig1
Passengers1

Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report

The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.

About this page

Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number WPR11LA246.