- Date
- May 9, 2026, 15:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Front Royal, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N8092SSky Ranger SKY Ranger 1
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 202959
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 him taking off with the fuel selector in the OFF position, and the subsequent total loss of engine power 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 was preparing to depart and taxied to the runway, completed a magneto check, and commenced the takeoff. Shortly after takeoff, while initiating a left turn, the airplane’s engine lost power. The pilot reported that he searched for a suitable landing area, while continuing the left turn in an attempt to land on a taxiway. During the forced landing, the airplane contacted a fence and a wooden signpost before it struck the ground and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane’s right wing and fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He further stated that he had inadvertently left the fuel selector in the OFF position and described that because the fuel selector was located behind the cockpit seats, it was awkward to see and access.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8092S
- Reported as
- Sky Ranger SKY Ranger 1
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- SKR-0125
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 986
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL SERIES, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 23, 2025 · 22 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FRR · Front Royal-Warren County, runway 10, 3,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Airframe parachute
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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- June 5, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 136 total · 59 in this make and model · 92 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- OKV, 14 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KOKV 091835Z AUTO 13004KT 10SM CLR 20/08 A2979
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 25, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.9 MB in all.