Cessna 172XP N2743V

Summary

On 3 April 1999 at about 21:00 local time, a Cessna 172XP registered N2743V was involved in an accident near Ramapo, New York, United States. One person was 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

3 April 1999 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ramapo, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Greenwood Lake Airport (4N1)

Coordinates

41.1204, -74.1708

Aircraft

Cessna 172XP

Registration

N2743V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia County → West Milford

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC99LA088

1 person had minor injuries.

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inaccurate fuel consumption calculations. A factor in the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the solo cross-country flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

In cruise flight, the student pilot noticed a decrease in fuel pressure. He moved the fuel selector from 'BOTH' to 'RIGHT', and the fuel pressure increased. Several minutes later, the fuel pressure began to decrease again. He moved the fuel selector from 'RIGHT' to 'LEFT', the engine lost all power, and he made an forced landing to a field. The airplane held 52 gallons of useable fuel. The student pilot calculated that he had flown about 4 hours, according to the tachometer, with the mixture leaned to acquire a 10 gallon-per-hour (GPH) fuel consumption rate. According to the his calculations, 90 minutes of fuel should have remained. His calculations did not account for the difference between tachometer time verses the Hobbs meter. He later stated that after reviewing his calculations, he also did not account for fuel consumption during the three takeoffs and climbs during the 4 hour period. Additionally, his certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that he knew the student pilot was planning to conduct a solo cross-country flight on the day of the accident, but did not review the preflight planning, nor did he endorse his student's logbook.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.