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MIA92LA054 · Smith/Davis DA-2A

4 Jan 1992 · Holly Springs, MS, United States

Smith/Davis DA-2A · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) while maneuvering

From 0A5 · Resaca, GA to Holly Springs, MS

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Event

NTSB case
MIA92LA054
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
1 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Smith/Davis DA-2A

Aircraft type
Smith/davis DA-2
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N3093
Operator
Gregory G. Kane · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 0A5 · Resaca, GATo Holly Springs, MS
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Fuel exhaustion
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Fuel consumption calculations, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT DEPARTED VFR FROM RESACA, GEORGIA, BETWEEN 1000-1015 EST TO HOLLY SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI. NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE AT 1315 CST ABOUT 30 FEET AGL ABOVE THE TREES. THE AIRPLANE WAS PROCEEDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE HOLLY SPRINGS AIRPORT WITH THE ENGINE SPUTTERING. THE AIRPLANE MADE A RIGHT TURN AND LEVELED OUT. THE RIGHT WING DROPPED DOWN 90 DEGREES AND RETURNED BACK TO THE LEVEL POSITION. THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE PITCHED UP, THE RIGHT WING DROPPED DOWN, THE ENGINE QUIT, AND THE AIRPLANE DISAPPEARED BELOW THE TREE LINE AND COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRFRAME, FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM, ENGINE ASSEMBLY, PROPELLER SYSTEM, AND ACCESSORIES REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF PRECRASH MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. THE FUEL TANK WAS NOT RUPTURED AND NO FUEL WAS PRESENT IN THE FUEL TANK.

Probable cause

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S IMPROPER MANAGEMENT OF FUEL. THIS RESULTED IN THE AIRPLANE EXPERIENCING FUEL EXHAUSTION, FORCED LANDING, AND IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TERRAIN.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA92LA054
Event ID
20001211X14030
Case number
MIA92LA054
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 452530b20ca6e76328cb11d7e34f553e7b6944833809ae079adb8e45bdef3505; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:25:40.183Z.
  • Corrected after a review of the NTSB narrative, which states these values explicitly: destination. The narrative states "THE PILOT DEPARTED VFR FROM RESACA, GEORGIA, BETWEEN 1000-1015 EST TO HOLLY SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI"; the destination was not recorded.