- Date
- January 9, 1983, 16:01 local (21:01 UTC)
- Place
- Youngstown, OH
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N441EZRutan Varieze
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830109000629A
- Case key
- 12064
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot took off with minimum fuel to practice touch and go landings. After 20 minutes of flight he turned on final approach and advanced the throttle with no power response. Due to low altitude and a wooded area on final he attempted a right turn to land on a freeway, touched down short and collided with a fence. The early models of varieze aircraft are subject to unporting the fuel tank line when operating with minumum fuel. Later models have a tank sump to correct this condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N441EZ
- Reported as
- Rutan Varieze
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1807
- Airframe hours
- 140
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- J. T. Weatherly
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1982 · 30 hours before
- Airport
- YNG · Youngstown, runway 14, 7,493 × 150 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 9,503 total · 140 in this make and model · 9,475 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.