Luscombe 8 N71497

Summary

On 13 August 2016 at about 16:03 local time, a Luscombe 8 registered N71497 was involved in an accident near Marlboro, New Jersey, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 August 2016 at 16:03

Classification

Accident

Location

Marlboro, New Jersey, United States

Coordinates

40.2850, -74.2228

Aircraft

Luscombe 8

Registration

N71497

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Old Bridge → Old Bridge

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA291

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight fuel management, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the subsequent total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was on a local personal flight and, after flying about 1.5 hours, the engine experienced a total loss of engine power that he could not restore. He maneuvered the airplane for a forced landing in a field, but the airplane impacted the ground in a nose- and left-wing-low attitude, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no fuel remaining in the intact fuel tank and only residual fuel remaining in the fuel strainer and carburetor. The glass face of the fuel tank quantity indicator gauge was scratched and cloudy. The examination revealed no evidence of preimpact failures or malfunctions of the engine or engine accessories that would have precluded normal operation. Thus, it is likely that the pilot did not adequately manage the fuel supply during flight, and the scratched and cloudy glass face of the fuel quantity indicator gauge may have led the pilot to misinterpret how much fuel was remaining.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.