Cessna 175B N8141T

Summary

On 31 December 2004 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 175B registered N8141T was involved in an accident near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, United States. 4 people were on board and 2 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

31 December 2004 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, United States

Coordinates

37.9497, -85.1469

Aircraft

Cessna 175B

Registration

N8141T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nashville → Frankfort

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

NYC05LA036

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning and in-flight planning decision, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and a subsequent forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot estimated that he departed with about 1.5 hours of fuel on board, and that the flight time to his destination airport would take about an hour. About 35 minutes after takeoff, the airplane was in cruise flight at 2,000 feet, with the fuel selector positioned to "both," when the engine began to lose power, and the pilot elected to perform a forced landing to a field. The engine completely quit about 500 feet above the ground. During the landing, the nose gear separated, the firewall buckled, and a portion of the fuselage was wrinkled. The airplane came to rest canted to the right. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. No fuel was present in the left fuel tank, and approximately 5 gallons of clean automotive gasoline was drained from the right fuel tank. In addition, there was no evidence of a fuel spill at the accident site. According to the airplane owner's manual, the fuel system included two 26 gallon aluminum fuel tanks, with a useable fuel amount of 21 gallons from each tank, "in all flight attitudes."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.