- Date
- September 23, 2020, 11:31 local (15:31 UTC)
- Place
- St. Clairsville, OH · Open field
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N81624Aeronca 7AC
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200923019789A
- Case key
- 102049
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 pilots improper fuel planning that resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
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 reported that she was 12 miles from her planned refueling destination when the airplane’s engine lost power. She performed a forced landing to a grass field during which the airplane’s main landing gear was damaged. Further inspection revealed that the airplane sustained substantial damage to forward fuselage beneath the cabin area. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector who traveled to the accident scene reported that the airplane’s fuel tank was empty. There were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that she departed with 13 gallons of fuel and had calculated the fuel burn for that leg of flight at 9.4 gallons of fuel for a 2 hour and 5 minute flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81624
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC245
- Built
- 1945
- Airframe hours
- 2,131.6
- Engine
- Continental A65-9, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 2020 · 35.15 hours before
- Departed
- Toussant, OH
- Destination
- MPG · Moundsville, WV
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 12, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 582.3 total · 57.4 in this make and model · 51.4 in the last 90 days · 38.3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- HLG, 9 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 31, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 30.3 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.