Cessna 172N N6703E

Summary

On 2 September 1998 at about 15:50 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N6703E was involved in an accident near Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, 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

2 September 1998 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

46.8100, -95.8392

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N6703E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hutchinson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI98LA331

Nobody was injured.

An inadequate preflight inspection by the pilot which resulted in fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the airplane neared its destination the pilot did a pre- landing checklist. When he placed the mixture to full 'RICH' the engine began to run rough. He said the application of carburetor heat did not eliminate the roughness. The pilot said he positioned the fuel selector to the 'RIGHT' fuel tank and the engine began to run normally for a short time and then quit. The on-scene examination revealed no usable fuel in the airplane's fuel tanks. The pilot said he had told another pilot to fill the fuel tanks to the filler neck the day before the accident flight. During his preflight inspection of the airplane, the pilot said he did not visually check the fuel level, but relied on the fuel tank guages to confirm that the tanks were 'FULL.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.