- Date
- July 21, 1993, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cape May, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N522EBBeatty Glasair SH-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930721052689A
- Case key
- 11956
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
Inadequate preflight by the pilot by not assuring the fuel selector was in the proper position for takeoff, which resulted in fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power; and failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient airspeed, which resulted in a stall. The pilot's distraction (diverted attention) was a related factor.
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
Before flight, the pilot started the engine by using the auxiliary (aux) fuel tank. He estimated there was about 2 gal of fuel in the aux tank and 20 to 22 gal in the main tank. He intended to move the fuel selector to the main tank for takeoff, but said he was distracted when another aircraft taxied in front of him, though he was using a checklist. Shortly after liftoff, at about 75 to 100 ft AGL, the engine lost power. The pilot said he moved the fuel selector to the main tank position, but the engine did not restart. The pilot started to make an emergency landing, but the airplane stalled and impacted the ground in a left wing low attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N522EB
- Reported as
- Beatty Glasair SH-2 (GLASAIR SH)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 522
- Airframe hours
- 217
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-C1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Eugene J. Beatty
- Registered owner
- Eugene J. Beatty
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1992 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- WWD
- Destination
- WWD
- Airport
- WWD · Cape May County, runway 32, 4,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 69
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,700 total · 217 in this make and model · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.