Cessna 150E N4057U

Summary

On 21 March 2009 at about 22:30 local time, a Cessna 150E registered N4057U was involved in an accident near Columbia, Mississippi, United States. One person was 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

21 March 2009 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Columbia-Marion County Airport (0R0)

Coordinates

31.4844, -89.8219

Aircraft

Cessna 150E

Registration

N4057U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Natchez → Columbia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA208

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight and in-flight fuel planning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot flew a cross-country flight, 2 hours in duration, making stops at 2 airports. He then added 10 gallons of fuel to the airplane and observed that the quantity of fuel in the tanks was 1 ½ inches from the top of the fuel tank. The pilot flew approximately one hour, dropped off a passenger, and then departed for the return flight to his home airport. He did not refuel, or look in the fuel tanks to confirm the fuel quantity before departure. The pilot reported he relied mostly on his fuel gauges, which indicated half-full and three-quarters full, to confirm that he had adequate fuel for the flight. After flying for about one hour, while on final approach to the home airport, the airplane's engine lost power and the pilot performed a forced landing. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right fuel tank was empty and the left fuel tank contained only "a trace of fuel." Less than a pint of fuel was drained from the gascolator. No mechanical failures were identified by the Federal Aviation Administration, nor were any reported by the pilot. The pilot reported he conducted the flights with the mixture control in the full rich position. The Pilot's Operating Handbook for the aircraft instructs the pilot to lean the fuel mixture for better fuel economy while in cruise flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.