- Date
- May 1, 2013, 08:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ingalls, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1568YBeech A36
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130501007289A
- Case key
- 86784
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 improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 2
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 departed on a 1 hour 50 minute cross country flight with about 30 gallons of fuel in each wing tank (about 27 gallons usable fuel per side). The flight was uneventful until the pilot started a descent from 8,000 feet to 3,000 feet; the engine then made "two pops" and "quit." The pilot said the engine didn’t run rough; "it just stopped." He made several attempts to re-start the engine but was unsuccessful. The pilot declared an emergency and landed in a field. Upon landing, the nose gear dug into the dirt and separated from the airplane. The right wing rear spar fractured during the landing; however, both wing fuel tanks were undamaged. About 1 quart of fuel was drained from the left wing tank, and the right wing tank contained about 30 gallons of fuel. The pilot could not recall where the fuel selector was positioned at the time of the power loss. Examination of the engine and fuel system revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot was feeding fuel to the engine from the left wing tank and did not switch to the right wing tank before the engine lost power or during the attempted restart.
Factual narrative
The pilot departed on a 1 hour and 50 minute cross country flight with approximately 30 gallons of fuel in each wing tank (approximately 27 gallons usable fuel per side). The flight was uneventful until he started a descent to land from 8,000 feet to 3,000 feet, when the engine made "two pops" and "quit." The pilot said there was no engine roughness "it just stopped." He made several attempts to re-start the engine, but was unsuccessful. The pilot declared an emergency and landed in a field. Upon landing, the nose gear dug into the dirt and separated from the airplane. The right wing rear spar had also fractured during the landing; however, both wing fuel tanks were undamaged. Approximately one-quart of fuel was drained from the left wing tank, and the right wing tank contained approximately 30 gallons of fuel. The pilot could not recall what the position of the fuel selector was at the time of the power loss. Examination of the engine and fuel system revealed no mechanical anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1568Y
- Reported as
- Beech A36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-2646
- Airframe hours
- 3,690
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-550 SERIES, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wv Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Wv Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 10, 2012 · 16.7 hours before
- Departed
- CKB · Clarksburg, WV
- Destination
- UMP · Indianapolis, IN
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- None
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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 11, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 382 total · 232 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KAID, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 16, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.