- Date
- May 24, 2025, 17:13 local (21:13 UTC)
- Place
- Abingdon, VA · In a field
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N813JCVans RV-12
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 2025
- 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
- 20250524005529A
- Case key
- 200200
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 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 he did not visually verify the quantity of fuel in the airplane’s fuel tanks prior to departing on the accident flight. While enroute he climbed to 10,000 ft. mean sea level where he encountered a headwind that was greater than he had anticipated. As the pilot approached the intended destination, the engine lost power completely, so the pilot performed a forced landing to a field. During the off-airport landing, the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted resulting in substantial damage to the left wing, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination of the airplane found that the airplane’s fuel tank, gascolator, and carburetors were absent of fuel. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that the accident could have been prevented by refueling before takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N813JC
- Reported as
- Vans RV-12
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 120219
- Built
- 2011
- Airframe hours
- 378.1
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS3, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 24, 2024 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- FVX · Farmville, VA
- Destination
- VJI · Abingdon, VA
- Airport
- VJI · Virginia Highlands
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 82
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 20, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 238 in this make and model · 3,830 as pilot in command · 7.4 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- VJI, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KVJI 242215Z AUTO 26008KT 10SM CLR 18/07 A3018 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 14, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.4 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.