Cessna 150A N757NK

Summary

On 22 February 1998 at about 19:24 local time, a Cessna 150A registered N757NK was involved in an accident near Gulf of Mexico. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 February 1998 at 19:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Gulf of Mexico

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 150A

Registration

N757NK

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Key West → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98LA081

Nobody was injured.

a loss of engine power due to undermined reason resulting in a forced landing, and an in- flight collision with water.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said, ' he thought that fuel would not be a problem due to the airplane having extended range fuel tanks which held 40 total gallons and burned 6 gallons per hour...I did a normal preflight inspection including, draining fuel sumps and visually checking the fuel....' He also stated, ' I flew one hour in level flight, after finding fish, I started a left turn in which I remained in for about two and a half hours waiting for my boat to arrive, when I began to experience a power loss so I began checking switches, magnetos and the fuel selector, and I began to rock the wings.' The pilot further stated, 'I should have had two and a half to three hours of fuel remaining, and had been advised by the mechanic/instructor not to always trust the fuel gages as they are not very dependable.' He said he ran the airplane at 2,000 rpm's to try to extend the fuel burn while he was circling a fishing boat 35 miles offshore at 4,000 feet trying to spot fish, the engine stopped, and he started to descend. As he was passing through 2,500 feet the engine started, and he elected to return to land. He was about 15 miles from Key West when again the engine failed. He made a forced landing next to a lobster boat in the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot stated, 'the aircraft was full of fuel at the time of takeoff....' According to the aircraft's manual the aircraft holds 35 gallons and burns 6 gallons an hour which would have given him approximately 5 hours and 45 of fuel on board. The airplane was not recovered from the water, and no determination could be made on the reason for the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.