Cessna 150 N8080S

Summary

On 15 June 1997 at about 18:05 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N8080S was involved in an accident near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, United States. One person was 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

15 June 1997 at 18:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, United States

Coordinates

40.9407, -78.9700

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N8080S

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Butler → Port Allegany

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD97LA090

Nobody was injured.

Pilot in command became disoriented and continued flight until fuel exhaustion. A factor to this accident is the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision by over flying several airports during his disorientation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot/owner departed the airport with full fuel tanks. He flew 95 miles and was on his return leg when he became disoriented. He stated that his wet compass and directional gyro were not correct. The pilot ran the engine at red line on the rpm gauge until 10 minutes prior to engine loss of power. Unable to restart the engine, the pilot executed a forced landing to a strip mining access road. Examination of the wreckage revealed only unusable fuel remaining in the fuel tanks. No mechanical anomalies were found with the airframe or engine. The pilot reported that he was airborne for 3 hours and 25 minutes.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.