NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA07CA083
Registry · N423DW
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-4
Year of manufacture
2004 · 3 years old at event
Engine
AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20041007
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A50724
Registrant of record
WAGNER PHILLIP W
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's inadequate fuel management resulting in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was approaching the airport to land after a local flight of about 1 hour when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine without success. He executed a forced landing in a hay field. The airplane touched down near the end of the field and encountered a ditch at the edge of the field. The firewall was wrinkled, and the left wing tip was damaged. According to the pilot, the engine lost power due to fuel starvation when the left tank ran dry. He stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had switched tanks earlier to the right tank which contained 5 to 6 gallons of fuel. The pilot reported that he was approaching the airport to land after a local flight of about 1 hour when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine without success. He executed a forced landing in a hay field. The airplane touched down near the end of the field and encountered a ditch at the edge of the field. The firewall was wrinkled, and the left wing tip was damaged. According to the pilot, the engine lost power due to fuel starvation when the left tank ran dry. He stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had switched tanks earlier to the right tank which contained 5 to 6 gallons of fuel. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2007_SEA07CA083.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel starvation). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
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