The pilot reported that, one hour en route to the destination airport, the turbulence was getting bad, so he decided to return to the departure airport.
Subsequently, the Flight Design CT2K ran out of fuel and he made an off-airport landing in an open field near in Hooper, Washington. Upon landing, the airplane bounced, the nose gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage.
The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s improper fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a total loss of engine power, an off-airport landing to a field, and a subsequent nose-over.
This August 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
One hour into his flight and runs out of gas going back to his departure airport.
Taking in consideration of 30 minutes reserve, he might not have made it to his destination airport. In a way this makes no sense to me. Not sure how many gallons of fuel this plane is capable off but supposed to burn 5 GPH. When he turned around he had to have less than 5 gallons on board. Taking into consideration the 30 minutes reserve, he was theoretically out of fuel when he started his turn. Depending on landing airport, he might not have made it there.
Not knowing headwinds or tailwind.
Pis#. Poor planning = Pis# poor results
This sounds more like he hit rough air and panicked and tried to return without realizing he didn’t have the fuel to do it… A Flight Design is a tiny, very light and reactive aircraft and rough air is terrorizing inside of one.