Cessna 177B N30955

Summary

On 2 September 2000 at about 20:59 local time, a Cessna 177B registered N30955 was involved in an accident near Hinkley, California, 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

2 September 2000 at 20:59

Classification

Accident

Location

Hinkley, California, United States

Coordinates

34.9504, -117.1797

Aircraft

Cessna 177B

Registration

N30955

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palm Springs → Yucca Valley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX00LA356

Nobody was injured.

Loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion when the pilot became lost and disoriented.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was to ferry the airplane to another airport, approximately 20 minutes away, for repairs. The airplane departed the first airport at 0930 the day of the accident, and traveled to the accident site approximately 76 sm away. At 1400, the sheriff's department was notified of an airplane accident and subsequently responded to the location. When the deputy interviewed the pilot, he stated that he had been flying for 2 1/2 hours and was confused as to where he was and how he had gotten there. The pilot reported that he made a forced landing when he noted that his fuel tank gage read empty. He landed on a dirt road and on the landing rollout struck a berm, became airborne again, and came to rest on the main landing gear after colliding with an obstruction. Retrieval personnel reported that they recovered 2 gallons of fuel per wing. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the airplane has a total fuel capacity of 50 gallons; usable fuel is 24.5 gallons in each fuel tank, and .5 gallons of fuel in each fuel tank is unusable. Fuel burn at 2,300-2,400 rpm's was approximately 10 gallons per hour with endurance of about 4.9 hours of flight time. The accident was reported about 1 month later after the airplane was established to have substantial damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.