Cessna 182B N7150E

Summary

On 31 July 2012 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna 182B registered N7150E was involved in an accident near Gakona, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

31 July 2012 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Gakona, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

62.7211, -143.9353

Aircraft

Cessna 182B

Registration

N7150E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Northway → Gulkana

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC12LA080

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's improper fuel planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was ferrying the airplane from Washington to Alaska. About 40 minutes into the sixth leg of the trip, the airplane's engine lost all power, and the pilot made a forced landing to a tree-covered field, sustaining substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. A review of the pilot's fueling receipts, along with the flight times on each of the legs, revealed that the engine was consuming an average of 14.6 gallons per hour (gph) of fuel during the first four legs of the trip. On the next leg, the fuel consumption rose to an average of 17.13 gph. The airplane had flown a total time of 3:10:48, from the time the pilot last refueled. According to the airplane manufacturers cruise and range performance charts, if flown in accordance with the notes on the chart, the airplane should have had enough fuel to fly between four and five hours. However, if the most recent calculated actual fuel burn of 17.13 gph was used, the airplanes fuel endurance would have been about 3 hours 12 minutes. Given the pilot's statement that he did not lean the fuel mixture during the leg before the accident leg, the calculated fuel consumption on that leg, and the absence of fuel found in the fuel tanks postaccident, it is likely that the engine was using considerably more fuel than the pilot had calculated by the performance charts. The investigation was unable to determine if the unattached fuel bladder fasteners would have an effect on fuel quantity. Also, given the lack of anomaly during the test engine run, it is likely that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.