Progressive Aerodyne SEAREY LSA N316SR

Summary

On 1 June 2023 at about 00:30 local time, a Progressive Aerodyne SEAREY LSA registered N316SR was involved in an accident near Detroit, Michigan, 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.

Date

1 June 2023 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Coleman A Young Muni (DET)

Coordinates

42.4093, -83.0102

Aircraft

Progressive Aerodyne SEAREY LSA

Registration

N316SR

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23LA214

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion that resulted from the pilots’ inadequate preflight planning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was returning to the departure airport after a local training flight when the engine lost all power. Restart attempts were not successful. The pilot reported that he glanced at the fuel gauge and it indicated ¼ full. During the forced landing the airplane contacted trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed that only a trace amount of fuel was visible in the semi-transparent plastic fuel tank; the tank did not appear to be breached. After the airplane was removed from the accident site and leveled on a trailer used for recovery, the fuel gauge read empty. A subsequent engine run was performed where fuel was added to the tank and the engine started. The engine was operated from idle to full throttle and no anomalies were detected during the engine run. Based on the pilot’s report, the flight duration was about 2.5 hours; however, recorded flight track data indicated the flight actually lasted 3 hours. Available information indicates the flight crew failed to assure there was an adequate fuel supply for the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a complete loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.