Cessna 172H N3831R

Summary

On 12 April 2003 at about 23:57 local time, a Cessna 172H registered N3831R was involved in an accident near Holt, Missouri, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 April 2003 at 23:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Holt, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Block Air Village Airport (MO71)

Coordinates

39.4289, -94.3689

Aircraft

Cessna 172H

Registration

N3831R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Holt → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI03LA105

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A factor to the accident were the trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During takeoff after a touch and go, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and impacted trees off the end of the runway. A witness stated the airplane rotated and climbed to approximately 50 feet when the engine lost power "with no backfire, miss, etc." The witness reported the airplane pitched down to "level flight and [approximately] 60 degree left bank was initiated." The pilot reported that he has no recollection of the accident flight. However, on the NTSB accident form, the pilot reported there was no mechanical malfunction or failure. Subsequent to the accident, no fuel was drained from either of the wing fuel tank sumps. No fuel was drained from the fuel strainer, however it was defective and did not allow fuel to be drained. A visual check of the fuel tanks revealed no fuel in the right tank and approximately 1 inch of fuel in the left tank at the filler neck opening. No anomalies were found with the engine that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.