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GAA18CA343

2018-05-24 · Port Orange, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 7FL6

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection of the fuel, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a subsequent total loss of engine power.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, shortly after departure, about 1000 ft. above ground level, the engine sustained a total power loss. While searching for an off-airport landing spot, he made a right turn towards the airport, positioned the fuel selector knob towards the second tank and attempted to restart the engine. The engine restarted briefly but lost power. He attempted to restart the engine again after he repositioned the fuel selector back to the original tank, but the engine did not start. He forced landed the airplane in a field with trees and heavy vegetation two miles west of the airport. The pilot added that he "should have made a positive determination of fuel on board prior to takeoff." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. A postaccident examination by the FAA revealed no distinctive fuel odor at the accident site and only a cup of fuel was recovered from both tanks. The pilot reported that, shortly after departure, about 1,000 ft above ground level, the engine lost total power. While searching for an off-airport landing spot, he made a right turn toward the airport, positioned the fuel selector knob toward the second tank, and attempted to restart the engine. The engine restarted briefly but then lost power. He attempted to restart the engine again after he repositioned the fuel selector back to the original tank, but the engine did not start. He conducted a forced landing in a field with trees and heavy vegetation 2 miles west of the airport. The pilot added that he "should have made a positive determination of fuel on board prior to takeoff." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. Postaccident examination by the Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no distinctive fuel odor at the accident site, and only a cup of fuel was recovered from both tanks. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot - C
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA343.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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