Cessna 150 N3025X

Summary

On 24 June 2002 at about 00:30 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N3025X, operated by Charles Grediagin, was involved in an accident near South Naknek, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

24 June 2002 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

South Naknek, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

58.7036, -157.0083

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N3025X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Charles Grediagin

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Merrill Field → South Naknek

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC02LA058

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane resulting in fuel exhaustion in cruise flight, and his inadvertently stalling the airplane during the ensuing emergency landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had been on a cross country flight for about 3.5 hours when the airplane's engine lost power. He said he restarted the engine, and initiated a climb to gain altitude. With the destination airport in sight, the airplane's engine again lost power, and would not restart. The pilot decided the airplane would not make it to the airport, and he banked the airplane steeply to align it with a road perpendicular to the route of flight. About 20 feet above the road, the airplane "fell out" and impacted the roadway. The airplane bounced off of the roadway, and impacted the terrain inverted. The pilot said he had a favorable tailwind during the flight, and therefore, he did not make a planned intermediate fuel stop. He said he planned the flight using a straight fuel burn of 5.5 gallons per hour, and had 26 gallons of fuel in the airplane's tanks for the flight. The Cessna owner's manual states that 22.5 gallons of the airplane's 26 gallon fuel capacity are usable, and that at 71% cruise power, the engine burns 5.3 gallons per hour, but at higher power settings the engine may burn as much as 7.2 gallons per hour. The pilot did not factor in a variable fuel burn rate for engine start, taxi, run-up, takeoff, and climb. The engine was mounted postaccident on a test stand, and ran at full rated rpm.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.