Cessna 172N N737YJ

Summary

On 5 July 2004 at about 23:10 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N737YJ was involved in an accident near Laramie, Wyoming, 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

5 July 2004 at 23:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Laramie, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

41.2853, -105.6681

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N737YJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Manhattan → Laramie

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN04CA099

Nobody was injured.

fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's improper inflight decision not to stop and refuel. A contributing factor was the unsuitable terrain on which to make a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane, equipped with standard fuel tanks (43.0 gallons total, 40.0 gallons useable), was fueled to capacity prior to departure. The pilot and his passenger took off and flew for an estimated 4 hours, 14 minutes, before the engine lost power short of their destination. The pilot made a forced landing in a field. Postaccident examination revealed both fuel tanks were empty. The pilot admitted he had "run out of gas." According to a fuel calculations report submitted by the operator, "[If the pilot] received exactly full [fuel], flown exactly [a] straight line, leaned precisely, and the engine performed to the book, he would have arrived at KLAR with 1.8 gallons, or 15 minutes, which is half of VFR minimums and a lot less than safe, especially for a 450 nm trip. I think that says it all."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.