- Date
- August 19, 2000, 12:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Bernardino, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N596Hickey SE5-A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 1, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000819012189A
- Case key
- 50042
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, and his failure to verify adequate fuel for the planned flight, which resulted in a loss of engine power with no suitable forced landing site.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot departed in his homebuilt experimental airplane on a cross-country flight with an estimated 6 to 8 gallons of fuel. In his written statement he said that he should have verified the quantity of fuel with the use of a rod or wood stick.
Factual narrative
On August 19, 2000, at 1200 hours Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt experimental 1917 Hickey replica, SE5-A, N596, was substantially damaged during an off-airport landing at San Bernardino, California. The private pilot/operator was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight operating under 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Redlands, California, about 1140, and was destined for La Verne, California.
Prior to the arrival of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot stated to police and fire department personnel that he had run out of fuel. According to the FAA inspector, 10 gallons of fuel had been added to the fuel tank before he arrived on scene, and the pilot was planning on flying the airplane from the golf course.
The pilot reported that he had departed with 6 to 8 gallons of fuel. He estimated the quantity by looking at the fuel indicator. He said the he should have verified the fuel with the use of a rod or wood stick.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N596
- Reported as
- Hickey SE5-A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Airframe hours
- 500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 105 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jeffrey T. Ying
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 6, 1999 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- L12 · Redlands, CA
- Destination
- POC · La Verne, CA
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 720 total · 40 in this make and model · 700 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 185 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N596 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.