- Date
- November 9, 2024, 11:02 local (16:02 UTC)
- Place
- O'Brien, FL · Coordinates from the pilot
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N214FLFinn Lassen RV-4
- Defining event
- Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)
- 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
- 20241109020809A
- Case key
- 195534
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 and navigational equipment as a result of a faulty battery.
Findings · 1
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 approximately 7 miles from his destination airport, he reduced the engine power to descend when, “suddenly everything went dark” and the engine lost all power. The automotive automotive-style powerplant ignition system is was dependent upon the airplane’s battery system. Unable to restart the engine, the pilot attempted a forced landing in a field. The pilot was unable to operate the electrically electrically-driven flaps, and as a result, he over flew a series of hay fields before touching down in a third field. The airplane approached a barbed wire fence at the end of the field, so the pilot attempted to steer away from it, . however, theThe right wing and main landing gear dug into the terrain and spun the airplane around. Substantial damage to the airplane fuselage resulted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane by the pilot found that the airplane’s battery hadwas having intermittent voltage drops as a result of an internal crack in the bridge between cells.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N214FL
- Reported as
- Finn Lassen RV-4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2495
- Built
- 2020
- Airframe hours
- 125
- Engine
- Mazda 13-B, 146 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 1, 2024 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- 9FL5 · Bell, FL
- Destination
- FL10 · McAlpin, FL
- Airport
- FD71 · O'Brien Airpark East/West
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Data recorder, Angle of attack indicator, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Handheld GPS, Stall warning system, ADS-B
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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 19, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 1,139 total · 96 in this make and model · 1,091 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 39 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KGNV 091653Z 09006KT 10SM FEW033 SCT050 27/22 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP191 T02670217 $=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 22, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 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.