- Date
- October 14, 2022, 16:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Pell City, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N302BMMcglaughlin Richard Sportsman GS2
- 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
- 20221014016179A
- Case key
- 106162
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 inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power during cruise flight 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 of the experimental airplane stated that his electronic cockpit display indicated 23 gallons of fuel prior to flight, but he did not visually inspect the fuel tanks as it would have required a step ladder. About 10 minutes after takeoff, the engine lost all power, and the pilot performed a forced landing in a field. During the landing, the airplane impacted a ditch and came to rest upright. The pilot checked the fuel tanks after the accident, and they were empty. Other than the fuel gauge, the pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that main landing gear separated and the left wing strut sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N302BM
- Reported as
- Mcglaughlin Richard Sportsman GS2
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 7283
- Built
- 2008
- Airframe hours
- 418
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-390, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · July 22, 2022 · 2 hours before
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 3, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 418 in this make and model · 4,300 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- PLR, 4 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KPLR 142155Z AUTO 23008KT 10SM CLR 24/02 A2998
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 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.