- Date
- April 4, 2015, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Surprise, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N593JJabiru Jabiru - SP
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 1, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150404005249A
- Case key
- 91006
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 fuel 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 stated he was landing at a dirt airstrip near his residence when his engine quit while maneuvering at a low altitude. He landed the airplane in a field, perpendicular to the field's furrows, resulting in the airplane coming to rest on its nose and sustaining damage to the propeller and nose landing gear, and substantial damage to the right wing. According to the FAA air safety inspector, no fuel was found in the wing fuel tanks during a post-accident examination. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated he was landing at a dirt airstrip near his residence when his engine quit while maneuvering at a low altitude. He landed the airplane in a field, perpendicular to the field's furrows, resulting in the airplane coming to rest on its nose and sustaining damage to the propeller and nose landing gear, and substantial damage to the right wing. According to the FAA air safety inspector, no fuel was found in the wing fuel tanks during a post-accident examination. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N593J
- Reported as
- Jabiru Jabiru - SP (SP)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 413
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 312
- Engine
- Jabiru 3300, 120 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2015
- Departed
- KGEU · Glendale, AZ
- Destination
- Surprise, AZ
- Airport
- GEU · Glendale Muni
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot
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
- 92
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Sport Pilot, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 28, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 10,312 total · 266 in this make and model · 9,756 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KGEU, 7 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 26, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.