Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sky Bryce Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Basye, Virginia 22810
Saturday, November 11, 2006 16:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After 30 minutes of flying in the local area, the special light sport airplane was seen maneuvering about 1 mile northeast of the airport when the engine "surged," then became silent. Moments later, the airplane impacted trees in a wooded residential area. Examination of the wreckage revealed there was virtually no fuel in the fuel tanks or fuel system at impact. No preimpact malfunctions were noted with the airplane, and there was no evidence of rotation on the propeller. No fueling facilities were available where the airplane was based, and fueling documentation provided by the operator revealed the airplane flew seven times, for a total of 6.3 hours since its last refueling. The total fuel capacity for the airplane was 30 gallons, and engine fuel consumption ranged from a high of 7.1 gallons per hour at "takeoff performance" to less than 4.0 gallons per hour at "Max Cruising." The airplane flight manual (AFM) advised to "visually confirm fuel level" as part of the preflight inspection and to "Check fuel quantity" prior to takeoff. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot at one time had been seeing a psychiatrist for the treatment of anxiety and depression and was taking citalopram and bupropion (prescription anti-depressant medications); however, three years prior to the accident, his psychiatrist reported to the FAA that he was no longer on the medication. The FAA then issued him a medical certificate, and advised him that he needed to abide by the rules that related to his physical deficiency. The pilot was prohibited by the FAA from operating an aircraft if new symptoms or adverse changes occurred, or if he experienced any side effects from, or required a change in medication. A review of the pilot's most recent application for a medical certificate 17 months prior to the accident, noted that the pilot did not mention the use of any anti-depressants. The application also indicated "No" to all other conditions under "Medical History," including specifically "Mental disorders of any sort; depression, anxiety, etc." The toxicology report noted that citalopram, N-desmethylcitalopram, and di-N-desmethylcitalopram (the metabolites of citalopram) were detected in the pilot's blood at levels approximately 10 times higher than those expected from the dosage previously prescribed for the pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/11/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Basye |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22810 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384919N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784505W |
| Event Location Airport | Sky Bryce Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VG18 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1263 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1637 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | W99 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 963 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.74 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21961 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 11 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dulles, VA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N601VA |
| NTSB Number | NYC07FA025 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Czech Aircraft Works |
| Aircraft Model | CH 601 XL RTF |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-9734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 507.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pellien Enterprises Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alexandria |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22315 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Mid-Atlantic Sports Planes Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Alexandria |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22315 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VG18 |
| Departure City | Basye |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VG18 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2007 1:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |