- Date
- August 19, 2014, 20:00 local (Aug 20, 2014, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Frontenac, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- UNREGQuicksilver 2S
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 90016
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 loss of engine power during cruise due to fuel exhaustion resulting in a forced landing on a cornfield.
Findings · 3
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 non-certificated pilot reported that the airplane fuel tank contained one gallon of gasoline prior to departure. The pilot departed in his unregistered airplane on a local flight and monitored the fuel in the fuel tank line during the flight. He said the fuel line indicated that there was three inches of fuel in the fuel tank. The engine lost power about a half hour into the flight and one mile from its destination. The pilot made a forced landing on a cornfield, and the airplane sustained substantial fuselage damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the accident flight. His safety recommendation stated that he should not have flown with so little fuel, and he should not have trusted the fuel level he saw in the line.
Factual narrative
The non-certificated pilot reported that the airplane fuel tank contained one gallon of gasoline prior to departure. The pilot departed in his unregistered airplane on a local flight and monitored the fuel in the fuel tank line during the flight. He said the fuel line indicated that there was three inches of fuel in the fuel tank. The engine lost power about a half hour into the flight and one mile from its destination. The pilot made a forced landing on a cornfield, and the airplane sustained substantial fuselage damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the accident flight. His safety recommendation stated that he should not have flown with so little fuel, and he should not have trusted the fuel level he saw in the line.
Aircraft
- Registration
- UNREG
- Reported as
- Quicksilver 2S
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- unknown
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 64 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Pilot
- Airworthiness certificate
- None
- Departed
- MY50 · Frontenac, MN
- Destination
- MY50 · Frontenac, MN
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 200 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
- Observed at
- KRGK, 7 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 12, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 986 KB in all.