- Date
- December 19, 2019, 16:35 local (22:35 UTC)
- Place
- Hickory Valley, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N113APitts A
- 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
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20191219017739A
- Case key
- 100878
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 planning which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
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 reported that the airplane departed with 17.5 gallons of fuel and about 1 hour and 25 minutes after departure the engine lost power. He attempted to restart the engine using the boost pump to no avail. The pilot elected to make an off-airport landing to a road; during the landing the airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear collapsed resulting in substantial damage to both wings and the firewall. Both the wing fuel tanks were examined and no evidence of fuel remained in either tank. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported as a safety recommendation that more thoughtfully studying the fuel consumption "break in" period could have prevented the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N113A
- Reported as
- Pitts A (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 1,660
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 19, 2019
- Departed
- M08 · Bolivar, TN
- Destination
- M08 · Bolivar, TN
- Equipment
- 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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 13, 2018
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 2,090 total · 351 in this make and model · 1,974 as pilot in command · 5.4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Observed at
- KM08, 4 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 8, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 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.