Cessna 172F N8389U

Summary

On 26 February 2001 at about 18:44 local time, a Cessna 172F registered N8389U was involved in an accident near Larkspur, Colorado, 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

26 February 2001 at 18:44

Classification

Accident

Location

Larkspur, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Perry Park (CO93)

Coordinates

39.1803, -104.8907

Aircraft

Cessna 172F

Registration

N8389U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Colo. Springs → Boulder

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN01LA055

Nobody was injured.

the flight instructor inadvertently stalling the airplane during a forced landing. Contributing factors were fuel exhaustion due to inadvertent opening of the fuel drain, lack of familiarity with the airplane, inadequate supervision of the flight, and the missing strainer spring.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Shortly after departure, the flight instructor and his student became cold. The heater control was not in the usual position on the instrument panel (both pilots were accustomed to flying later model Cessna 172s). The student located a "white knob" but could not read the nomenclature plate. Believing it was the heater control, he pulled the knob. Approximately 1.5 hours later, the engine lost power. The instructor assumed control of the airplane and turned towards a private airstrip about 2 miles away. He instructed the student to make emergency radio calls and try restarting the engine. Strong headwinds prevented the airplane from gliding to the runway. The airplane stalled and impacted terrain. The airplane had been aloft for 1.7 hours when the engine lost power. Postaccident inspection disclosed the student had inadvertently pulled the fuel strainer control knob instead of the cabin heat control knob. There were no fuel stains on the bottom of the airplane. The fuel strainer control is spring-loaded to the CLOSED position. Examination disclosed the spring was missing. According to the Cessna 172F SERVICING INTERVALS CHECK LIST, the fuel strainer should be disassembled and cleaned every 100 hours. The last 100 hour inspection performed on N8389U was on December 14, 2000, 85.67 hours before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.