- Date
- February 26, 1990, 17:20 local (Feb 27, 1990, 01:20 UTC)
- Place
- Grants Pass, OR
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7131Burton Cavalier Model 2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900226002879A
- Case key
- 41100
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Fuel exhaustion which resulted from the pilots intentionally operating the aircraft with a known deficiency. The pilot failed to maintain airspeed, resulting in a stall/spin and uncontrolled descent.
Analysis
The pilot took off on the flight without a cap installed on the right fuel tank. The engine quit when the supply of fuel was exhausted. The acft stalled, entered a spin, descended nose down and impacted terrain.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7131
- Reported as
- Burton Cavalier Model 2 (CAVALIER M)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6864
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ray E. France
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Destination
- 3S8
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,094 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MFR, 24 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.