Acro SUPER ACRO SPORT I N20FB

Summary

On 25 April 2019 at about 17:58 local time, a Acro SUPER ACRO SPORT I registered N20FB was involved in an accident near Elberton, Georgia, 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

25 April 2019 at 17:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Elberton, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

34.1353, -82.8731

Aircraft

Acro SUPER ACRO SPORT I

Registration

N20FB

Category

Airplane

Year built

1992

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Saluda → Carnesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA19LA158

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had just purchased the airplane and the accident flight was his first in it. Before the flight, the previous owner explained to the pilot that the main fuel tank was full of fuel and that the auxiliary tank contained no fuel. The pilot acknowledged the fuel state of the airplane and told the seller he "would not need" auxiliary fuel. Following an aborted takeoff attempt, the pilot departed for his home airport. The pilot advised first responders that during the flight, his “fuel quit working so he tried to prime it for his backup fuel to work.” When that did not remedy the problem, he prepared the airplane for a forced landing and subsequently impacted trees. The airplane was substantially damaged during the forced landing and the pilot was seriously injured. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the airplane at the accident site found that only a “very small amount” of fuel remained in the main fuel tank after the accident. The estimated fuel endurance of the airplane based on the fuel reported to be onboard at the time the pilot departed, and the estimated fuel consumption reported by the previous owner, was about 2.1 hours. The time elapsed between when the airplane departed and the accident was about 2.3 hours. Given this information, it is likely that the pilot exhausted the airplane’s available fuel supply, resulting in a total loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.