Cessna 150L N10401

Summary

On 5 January 2010 at about 23:20 local time, a Cessna 150L registered N10401, operated by Cuvar Philip M, was involved in an accident near Brownstown, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and 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

5 January 2010 at 23:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Brownstown, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

38.9956, -88.9528

Aircraft

Cessna 150L

Registration

N10401

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Cuvar Philip M

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Decatur → Litchfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN10CA092

1 person had minor injuries.

A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the student pilot becoming lost/disoriented in flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot stated that he was given a clearance to climb out to the west after taking off on the last leg of a three-leg cross-country flight. He departed at 3:35 local time, with 26 gallons of fuel on board. He stated that by the time he was able to turn onto his course heading he was off his planned route of flight. He reported that the haze and setting sun made it difficult to see and that he was not able to locate his checkpoints to get back on course. After flying around in order to attempt to identify his visual checkpoints, the engine experienced fuel exhaustion and the pilot performed an off-airport landing to a dark area in the terrain; however, the field was short and the airplane contacted trees and nosed over during the landing flare. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.