- Date
- July 19, 1994, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Farmingdale, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N269RHHoopes RV-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940719019619A
- Case key
- 38797
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 improper decision to fly after donating blood which resulted in his incapacitation.
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
During landing the airplane ran off the side of the runway and collided with a dirtbank. According to the pilot, 'upon touch down, (he) blanked out to semi-conscious and could not control plane.' The pilot reported that he had donated blood earlier in the day, which is what he believes is the reason for the semi-consciousness. He stated that he should have waited 2 days after the blood donation, before piloting an aircraft.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 1994, about 1900 eastern daylight time, an experimental Hoopes RV-6, N269RH, piloted by Rae Hoopes, collided with the terrain during the landing at Farmingdale Airport, Farmingdale, New Jersey. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was operated under 14 CFR 91.
According to the pilot's statement on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the pilot wrote that he donated blood the morning of the flight. He further wrote, that the approach was normal, but "...upon touchdown, [he] blanked out to semi-conscious and could not control plane, which ran off runway to the left."
According to FAA inspector, Ray Fisher's written report, the airplane landed hard on the runway, and the pilot "lost directional control of the aircraft...and struck a pile of dirt." Mr. Fisher wrote that the pilot had received 3 hours of instruction in RV-6 aircraft, and commented, "...[that]hardly qualifies a pilot coming from a Cessna 172 to act [as] pilot-in- command of a RV-6."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N269RH
- Reported as
- Hoopes RV-6
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 20046
- Airframe hours
- 8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4J, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rae Hoopes
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Destination
- BLM
- Airport
- BLM · Belmar/Farmingdale, runway 14, 7,000 × 80 ft, asphalt
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
- 62
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 408 total · 6 in this make and model · 224 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.