Cosmos PHASE II N5057Z

Summary

On 22 December 2019 at about 20:00 local time, a Cosmos PHASE II registered N5057Z was involved in an accident near Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States. 2 people were 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

22 December 2019 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.4832, -114.3234

Aircraft

Cosmos PHASE II

Registration

N5057Z

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Havasu → Lake Havasu

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20CA056

1 person was seriously injured.

The total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight fuel inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, while the trike was at cruise flight about 800 ft above ground level, the engine lost power. He attempted to restart the engine to no avail and then initiated a landing in open desert. During the landing roll, the trike impacted a large boulder. Postaccident examination of the trike revealed that it had run out of fuel. The pilot added that the trike was not equipped with a fuel quantity gauge and that the only way to verify the fuel level was to visually look in the fuel tank. Additionally, he thought he had a full tank of fuel before takeoff. The trike sustained substantial damage to the forward upright wing support tubes. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the trike that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.