10 Aug 2023: REMOS ACFT GMBH FLUGZEUGBAU REMOS GX — WHITAIR LLC

10 Aug 2023: REMOS ACFT GMBH FLUGZEUGBAU REMOS GX (N72GX) — WHITAIR LLC

No fatalities • Henderson, NV, United States

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to ensure there was adequate fuel onboard before departure, which led to a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On August 10, 2023, about 0640 Pacific daylight time, a Remos GX, N72GX, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Henderson, Nevada. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.   The accident flight was an introductory lesson for the student. The flight instructor stated that, before departure, he thought that the airplane had 7.5 gallons of fuel onboard, which would have been equivalent to about 1 hour and 30 minutes of flight time. He departed to the south and began to demonstrate basic maneuvers. After completing around 3 turns, which occurred about 15 minutes into the flight, the engine sputtered. The flight instructor turned toward a dry lakebed and began troubleshooting. The engine continued to sputter and was losing power. The engine instruments showed nothing unusual, but he noted that the fuel gauge indicated that the tank was empty.   The engine lost complete power and the flight instructor glided toward a dirt road. The airplane touched down on the road and the airplane nosed over after encountering a ditch. After egressing the airplane, the flight instructor verified that there was no fuel in the visual fuel tube, indicating there was no fuel in the system.

An examination was performed by a mechanic under the auspice of a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. The mechanic removed the seats, and panels in the cabin were opened to access the fuel tank and fuel lines. No defects or evidence of leaks were found. The fuel cap was secure, and the fuel filler cap O-ring was present and in good condition. No evidence of a leak was found on the fuselage or tail behind the fuel filler cap. The mechanic sumped the fuel tank, revealing an operable sump valve and no signs of leakage or damage. There was a small amount of "unusable" fuel in the tank. A visual inspection of the fuselage fuel lines, and the fuel shutoff valve revealed no defects or evidence of leaks. Upon inspecting fuel lines forward of the firewall to carburetors, no anomalies were found. The mechanic removed the carburetor’s fuel bowls and they were empty. Removal of the lower spark plugs revealed they were light grey, consistent with a lean engine operation. The examination revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing factors

  • Instructor/check pilot
  • Fluid management
  • Fluid level

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 180/06kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.