- Date
- June 14, 2010, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hot Springs, AR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N70906Piper J3C-65
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 21, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100614034669A
- Case key
- 76380
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
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's inadvertent closure of the fuel valve. Contributing to the accident were the unmarked fuel shutoff valve and the pilot's inexperience in the accident airplane.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot/owner and a commercial-rated pilot departed in a tandem, two-seat, tailwheel-equipped airplane on a local flight. On the return leg to the airport the commercial pilot was flying the airplane. The commercial pilot, who was seated in the rear seat, did his before-landing checks to set up for the landing; however, during the approach to the runway the engine lost power. Unable to regain engine power, they elected to conduct a forced landing in a vacant lot. During the forced landing the airplane sustained damage to the left wing and fuselage. After the accident the pilot/owner and commercial pilot discovered that the engine’s fuel shut-off valve was in the (pulled) off position. The commercial pilot reported that he flew a Cub Special (PA-11), but never the accident airplane (J3), and that the fuel shut-off valve in the J3 was in the same place as the carburetor heat in the PA-11. The commercial pilot added that the shut-off valve was not color coded or marked, and that he pulled the fuel shut-off knob mistaking it for the carburetor heat.
Factual narrative
The pilot/owner and a commercial-rated pilot departed in a tandem, two-seat, tailwheel-equipped airplane on a local flight. On the return leg to the airport the commercial pilot was flying the airplane. The commercial pilot, who was seated in the rear seat, did his before-landing checks to set up for the landing; however, during the approach to the runway the engine lost power. Unable to regain engine power, they elected to conduct a forced landing in a vacant lot. During the forced landing the airplane sustained damage to the left wing and fuselage. After the accident the pilot/owner and commercial pilot discovered that the engine’s fuel shut-off valve was in the (pulled) off position. The commercial pilot reported that he flew a Cub Special (PA-11), but never the accident airplane (J3), and that the fuel shut-off valve in the J3 was in the same place as the carburetor heat in the PA-11. The commercial pilot added that the shut-off valve was not color coded or marked, and that he pulled the fuel shut-off knob mistaking it for the carburetor heat.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70906
- Reported as
- Piper J3C-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17927
- Airframe hours
- 3,325
- Engine
- Continental C85 Series, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 2009
- Departed
- KHOT · Hot Springs, AR
- Destination
- KHOT · Hot Springs, AR
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- KHOT · Hot Springs Memorial Field, runway 13, 4,099 × 100 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Unknown
- Last flight review
- November 25, 2009
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,700 total · 0 in this make and model · 1,500 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KHOT, 1 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 27, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.