Cessna 172M N725EC

Summary

On 29 June 2002 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N725EC, operated by David L. Metzger, was involved in an accident near Hite, Utah, United States. 3 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

29 June 2002 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Hite, Utah, United States

Coordinates

37.4422, -110.5697

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N725EC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David L. Metzger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boulder → Halls Crossing

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN02LA066

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's improper in-flight planning resulting in fuel exhaustion. A factor relating to the accident was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing attempt.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was about 30 miles away from the airport when the airplane's engine lost power. He said he tried to find a place to land. The pilot said, "I found a very small dirt road, so I turned base and then final for it. We had a big tailwind at this point and we overshot the road. I then turned to the right and set it down in the middle of the desert. The landing was soft until we ran out of room and hit a ditch. We almost stopped and the front tire dug in, and it lifted us straight up and then we rolled over slowly on to the top of the plane." In his statement to a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, the pilot said that he ran out of fuel. An examination of the airplane's fuel system showed no fuel in the tanks. No other pre-impact anomalies were found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.