- Date
- August 9, 1989, 14:14 local (19:14 UTC)
- Place
- Springfield, TN
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N44516Bratton RB-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890809028229A
- Case key
- 7846
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion at a low altitude, due to an inadequate supply of fuel; and his failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Factors related to the accident were: the lack of altitude, which resulted in the pilot's failure to recover from the stall/spin in time to avoid the tree & power line.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
According to witnesses, the plt was flying the motorized glider at about 200 to 300 ft AGL. Rprtdly, he was shutting off the eng, gliding for 30 to 40 sec, restarting the eng, flying for a short distance, then repeating the process. Subsequently, when the eng was without power, it entered a stall/spin, then hit a tree & a power line before the plt recovered. An exam of the motorized glider revealed that fuel had been exhausted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44516
- Reported as
- Bratton RB-1
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 49
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Clarence R. Bratton
- Registered owner
- Clarence R Bratton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 3, 1989 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- M91 · Springfield, TN
- Destination
- M91
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 67
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,400 total · 44 in this make and model · 44 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BNA, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.