Beechcraft A23 N3598R
1 July 2019 · Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 1 July 2019 at about 16:55 local time, a Beechcraft A23 registered N3598R, operated by Southern Eagle Flight School, was involved in an accident near Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 16:55
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States
- Nearest airport
- Fort Smith Regional (FSM)
- Coordinates
- 35.3344, -94.2656
- Aircraft
- Beechcraft A23
- Registration
- N3598R
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1965
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Southern Eagle Flight School
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Fort Smith → Fort Smith
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- CEN19LA194
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the flight instructor's fuel mismanagement.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The flight instructor reported that the engine lost all power about 1 minute after he switched fuel tanks while returning to the airport after a local training flight. His efforts to restore engine power were unsuccessful and he performed a forced landing to a road. The airplane touched down hard and subsequently came to rest in a ditch adjacent to the road. Recovery personnel drained about 15 gallons of fuel from the left wing fuel tank and about 1/4 gallon from the right wing fuel tank. The fuel tanks appeared to be intact and no fuel leakage was observed. A postaccident engine test run was conducted with no anomalies. Based on the minimal amount of fuel recovered from the right tank, it is likely that the flight instructor exhausted the fuel in the right tank and did not switch to the left fuel tank in sufficient time to restore engine power, which resulted in fuel starvation and the total loss of engine power.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Beechcraft A23 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Jun 2018 | Beechcraft A23 | Sedalia, Missouri, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 19 Jul 2020 | Beechcraft A23-24 | Burns Flat, Oklahoma, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 1 Jun 2021 | Beechcraft A23 | Pinnacle, North Carolina, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 14 Feb 2017 | Beechcraft A23 | Beckwourth, California, United States | 4 Day Fliers LLC. | Serious injuries | - |
| 5 Apr 2016 | Beechcraft A23 | Hulbert, Oklahoma, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 11 Dec 2016 | Beechcraft A23 24 | Anacortes, Washington, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2019 | Cessna 182 | Crossett, Arkansas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 24 Sep 2019 | Cessna 150 | Prairie Grove, Arkansas, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 17 May 2019 | Ayres S 2R | Stuttgart, Arkansas, United States | Farmers Aerial Seeders | No injuries | - |
| 15 May 2019 | Sikorsky S76 | Morrilton, Arkansas, United States | Arkansas Childrens Hospital | No injuries | - |
| 24 Mar 2019 | Champion 7EC | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 27 May 2019 | Air Tractor AT802 | Fisher, Arkansas, United States | Whirlwind Aviation Inc | No injuries | - |