- Date
- June 1, 2024, 17:05 local (21:05 UTC)
- Place
- Zebulon, NC
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7650VAero Commander Callair A-9B
- 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
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240601006089A
- Case key
- 194367
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
A total loss of engine power while maneuvering due to fuel starvation.
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 he departed on the glider tow flight with the airplane’s left fuel tank completely full, and between “1/4 and 1/2 a tank” in the right fuel tank, which was selected for the flight. The pilot successfully released the glider at 3,000 ft msl and entered a left, spiraling descent. At 2,800 feet, “the engine shut down (due to fuel). This has happened previously when the bank angle is steep enough and the tank low enough that the fuel does not reach the fuel pickup.” The pilot leveled the wings, but engine power did not resume. The airplane lacked the glide performance to return to the departure runway, or the pilot’s selected forced landing site. The pilot did not remember the accident landing which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane’s fuselage and both wings. The airplane’s fuel system was compromised and its postaccident fuel state could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7650V
- Reported as
- Aero Commander Callair A-9B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1378
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 2,483
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1A-5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Glider tow · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 9, 2024 · 8 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 7NC5 · Crooked Creek, runway 22, 2,500 × 80 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 80
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- LHZ, 7 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KLHZ 012105Z AUTO 12003KT 10SM CLR 26/10 A3019 RMK AO2=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 27, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 28.0 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.
Other investigations on N7650V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.