- Date
- May 20, 1999, 19:35 local (May 21, 1999, 00:35 UTC)
- Place
- Enterprise, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N80SHRutan VERI-EZE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 23, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990520026209A
- Case key
- 46366
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
The pilot's failure to remove covers from the fuel tank vent which resulted in fuel starvation.
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
The pilot reported that he had forgotten to remove the fuel vent cover during his preflight inspection. Shortly after takeoff the engine lost power and the airplane collided with the ground during a forced landing. Damage consisted of the nose gear, propeller and vertical stabilizer. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.
Factual narrative
On May 20, 1999, at 1935 central daylight time, a Rutan Vari-Eze homebuilt airplane, N80SH, collided with the ground and nosed over shortly after takeoff from the Enterprise Airport, in Enterprise, Alabama. The airplane was operated by the commercial pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Enterprise, Alabama, at 1930.
According to the pilot, he had forgotten to remove the fuel vent cover during his preflight inspection. Shortly after takeoff the engine lost power and the airplane collided with the ground during a forced landing. Damage consisted of the nose gear, propeller and vertical stabilizer.
No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80SH
- Reported as
- Rutan VERI-EZE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 399
- Airframe hours
- 625
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald Jack Reynolds
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 19, 1999 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- EDN
- Airport
- EDN · Enterprise
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
- 57
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,860 total · 66 in this make and model · 3,584 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ANB, 138 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.