- Date
- April 7, 1992, 14:54 local (18:54 UTC)
- Place
- Lakeland, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N83BTTomlinson Long EZ
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920407009169A
- Case key
- 33083
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-in-command's failure to perform pretakeoff procedures and assure the fuel selector was on prior to takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's complacency.
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 stated that after takeoff, he noticed the fuel selector was in the off position, and he turned it on. The engine failed shortly thereafter. He executed a forced landing to a field and the airplane struck a fence and the nose gear collapsed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83BT
- Reported as
- Tomlinson Long EZ
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 361
- Airframe hours
- 152
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fred I. Mahan
- Registered owner
- William Odum
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 1992 · 10 hours before
- Destination
- COI · Merritt Island, FL
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 437 total · 322 in this make and model · 394 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAL, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.