- Date
- July 11, 1993, 17:42 local (21:42 UTC)
- Place
- Chavies, KY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N485MHHolmes Special
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930711022989A
- Case key
- 11953
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
Fuel starvation due to the pilot's improper decision to take off with a low fuel level. Factors related to the accident were the low fuel level, the pilot's lack of familiarity with the characteristics of the fuel system, and the uneven terrain in the emergency landing area.
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
After takeoff, the pilot made a right turn into a hollow between rising terrain. He realized that the airplane could not attain a climb rate needed to clear the terrain, so he made a steep turn. During the turn, the airplane's engine lost partial power. During a forced landing, the airplane impacted a creek bank and was damaged. The pilot stated that there was about 6 gallons of fuel on board for the five mile flight. The fuel capacity of the airplane was 23 gallons. Post accident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies. The fuel tank was ruptured and empty. The fuel line from the fuel pump to the injection servo contained three to four drops of fuel. The fuel line from the servo to the flow divider contained enough fuel to fill half of the line. The pilot stated that the aircraft was modeled very closely after a 2 seat pitts special, which was placarded to restrict takeoffs with less than 1/4 tank of fuel due to possible fuel starvation induced by attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N485MH
- Reported as
- Holmes Special
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 3
- Airframe hours
- 150
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stephen L. Smith
- Registered owner
- Stephen L. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 20, 1992 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- Duff Field, KY
- Destination
- K20 · Hazard, KY
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
- 43
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight engineer, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 9,300 total · 60 in this make and model · 5,100 as pilot in command · 195 in the last 90 days · 73 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JKL, 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.