- Date
- November 27, 2015, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Oldtown, MD
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N531VSSkaggs Ronnie Lynn Rans S6S
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20151127022839A
- Case key
- 92419
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 failure to visually inspect the fuel level during the preflight inspection, which resulted in fuel starvation and a subsequent off-field landing and impacted terrain.
Findings · 3
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 had filled the airplane's fuel tanks the day before the cross-country flight, but did not visually check the fuel level in the tanks during the preflight inspection. The pilot reported that he estimated the flight would take about 1.5 hours, and full fuel tanks would have given him more than 3 hours of flight time. The pilot reported that he was 10 miles from his destination when the engine sputtered and lost power and he made an off-airport landing. The pilot reported that he saw trees in front of him and attempted a left turn to avoid the trees and impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that prior to the loss of engine power, there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that he estimated about a gallon of fuel was drained from the wing fuel tanks after the accident and the unusable fuel for the airplane is 1.25 gallons.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he had filled the airplane's fuel tanks the day before the cross-country flight, but did not visually check the fuel level in the tanks during the preflight inspection. The pilot reported that he estimated the flight would take about 1.5 hours, and full fuel tanks would have given him more than 3 hours of flight time. The pilot reported that he was 10 miles from his destination when the engine sputtered and lost power and he made an off-airport landing. The pilot reported that he saw trees in front of him and attempted a left turn to avoid the trees and impacted terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that prior to the loss of engine power, there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that he estimated about a gallon of fuel was drained from the wing fuel tanks after the accident and the unusable fuel for the airplane is 1.25 gallons.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N531VS
- Reported as
- Skaggs Ronnie Lynn Rans S6S
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 01071795
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 664.3
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 15, 2015
- Departed
- W42 · Fallston, MD
- Destination
- KCBE · Cumberland, MD
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- June 7, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 221 total · 212 in this make and model · 158 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.44 inHg
- Observed at
- KCBE, 7 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 8, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 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.