- Date
- November 26, 2022, 10:00, time zone not recorded
- Place
- Lake Havasu, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N254DWCosmos Phase II
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20221126020679A
- Case key
- 106395
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 fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent landing on rough terrain.
Findings · 4
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 of the weight-shift aircraft reported that, he was out for a pleasure flight and ran out of fuel and was forced to land on desert terrain. During the landing, the aircraft collided with vegetation which substantially damaged the fuselage. The pilot reported that a better preflight would have prevented this accident. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N254DW
- Reported as
- Cosmos Phase II
- Category
- Weight-shift
- Serial number
- 91127
- Built
- 2001
- Engine
- Rotax, 60 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- KHII · Lake Havasu City, AZ
- Destination
- KHII · Lake Havasu City, AZ
- Airport
- N/A
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 210 total · 60 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.16 inHg
- Icing
- Unknown
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KEED, 17 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KEED 261756Z AUTO 11004KT 10SM CLR 12/M07 A3016 RMK AO2 SLP204 T01171072 10117 20039 58001 $
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 31, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.6 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.