- Date
- October 5, 2020, 12:20 local (17:20 UTC)
- Place
- San Saba, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7333VBellanca 1730
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Fuel starvation
- 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
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201005020599A
- Case key
- 102264
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 student pilot’s improper decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
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 student pilot reported to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that he was in cruise flight when he ran out of fuel in the right fuel tank and the airplane’s engine lost all power. He attempted to get the engine restarted but could not. The student pilot subsequently performed a forced landing to a highway about a half a mile east of his intended destination airport. During the forced landing, one wing sustained substantial damage to the spar. The student pilot reported to the inspector that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The student pilot did not provide an NTSB Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7333V
- Reported as
- Bellanca 1730 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30190
- Built
- 1969
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Weber Justin L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KTPL · Temple, TX
- Destination
- KMAF · Midland, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 81R · San Saba County Muni, runway 31, 4,205 × 60 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
- Student pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 0 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.84 inHg
- Observed at
- KAQO, 27 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 18, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 26.7 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.