- Date
- May 20, 2021, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Central City, KY · Soy Bean Field
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N743BTRobert Trembly JA20 Highlander
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: 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
- 20210520009609A
- Case key
- 103132
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 failure to properly secure the left wing fuel cap before flight, which resulted in a 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 had just purchased fuel at a self-serve gas pump prior to departure on a cross country flight. About an hour after he departed, the engine stopped producing power and he made a forced landing to a soybean field. The airplane’s nose gear collapsed, and the airplane flipped over on to its back resulting in substantial damage to the left and right wings. The pilot reported that following the accident, the left-wing fuel cap was missing and that neither fuel tank contained any fuel. While the pilot said that he replaced both fuel caps after he fueled the airplane, the left wing fuel cap was later found next to the gas pump where he pumped the fuel. A functional test of the cap revealed that it fit securely to the left-wing fuel port. As a result, it is most likely that the pilot failed to properly install the left-wing fuel cap after refueling the airplane, which resulted in loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion in-flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N743BT
- Reported as
- Robert Trembly JA20 Highlander
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- JA469-10-15
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 140.5
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Trembly Robert
- Registered owner
- Trembly Robert
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 10, 2020 · 30.5 hours before
- Departed
- BWG · Bowling Green, KY
- Destination
- MVN · Mt. Vernon, IL
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- None
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather
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
- 77
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- October 18, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 483 total · 483 in this make and model · 453 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 4.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 60 °F
- Observed at
- BWG, 90 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 27, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.7 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.