Pilot Debrief

OHLGREN BRENT E RV-6A near Marshalltown, IA — 2014-09-01

Final reportCEN14LA472
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Date
2014-09-01
Location
Marshalltown, IA, USA
Airport
LMIW
Aircraft
OHLGREN BRENT E RV-6A
Registration
N419B
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's misjudgment of the amount of fuel onboard prior to flight.

NTSB narrative

The pilot said he visually checked and verified that the right wing fuel tank was just under half full and that the left wing fuel tank was just over half full prior to takeoff. As the airplane approached the destination, about 190 nm from the departure airport, the pilot decided to conduct a practice visual approach. Shortly after turning onto final approach, the engine lost power. After employing emergency procedures, the pilot was able to restore power and climbed the airplane to 3,100 feet. He then checked the fuel gauges, which both indicated one-eighth full. The engine then lost power a second time. The pilot made a forced landing in a bean field, and the airplane nosed over. During postaccident examination, no fuel sloshing could be heard when the wings were rocked; both wing fuel caps were then removed from the inverted airplane and no fuel leaked out. The airplane was righted, and when the master switch was turned on, the left fuel gauge was one needle-width above empty and the right fuel gauge indicated empty. The integrity of the fuel tanks appeared to be intact, and no fuel leaked from the tanks. No fuel was visible in either fuel tank. No fuel was recovered when the left and right wing fuel sump drains were removed. After adding fuel, the engine was started and ran at idle power until it was shut down.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have ensured adequate fuel before departure from Y14.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

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