Cessna 150F N3060X

Summary

On 26 November 1998 at about 22:15 local time, a Cessna 150F registered N3060X was involved in an accident near New Brockton, Alabama, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 November 1998 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

New Brockton, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

31.3790, -85.9193

Aircraft

Cessna 150F

Registration

N3060X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA99LA037

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's failure to perform fuel consumption calculations for the flight, resulting in a total power failure due to fuel exhaustion, and subsequent forced landing in soft terrain. Contributing factors in this accident were inadequate pre-flight planning and preparation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that when he arrived at the airplane, he checked the fuel, and found 'around 12 or 13 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off and flew for 'around 30 minutes.' He returned to the airport, landed and checked his fuel before taking off again. This time when he checked fuel he said there was 'around 8 to 9 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off again with a different passenger, and flew for 'around 15 minutes.' Again he returned to the airport, landed, and checked his fuel. This time he said, '...the fuel tanks had a little more than quarter of tank of fuel (between 5 to 6 gallons.' He took off again with a third passenger, and was heading west, when he said 'the engine quite running.' He said, '...I tried to restart the engine and failed. I then scanned the area for a safe place to land...I found a field that was about 2 miles from were the engine quit. By the time I got to the field I was at tree top level...the field was just plowed, when the wheels touched down the nose gear stuck in the dirt and caused the airplane to flip over.' According to the FAA the pilot received the airplane with the tank 1/2 full of fuel, and could not purchase fuel, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. He flew some passengers around the local area for an unknown number of hours, and on the third flight, the airplane's engine failed. He completed a forced landing in a field and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the wreckage revealed no fuel in either of the airplane's fuel tanks or on the ground. The fuel tanks and fuel lines were not breached. The FAA report stated that the pilot, '...miscalculated his fuel causing the engine to stop and necessitating an emergency landing in a field.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.