Cessna 180 N3148C

Summary

On 3 November 2013 at about 20:15 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N3148C was involved in an accident near St. Johns, Arizona, 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

3 November 2013 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

St. Johns, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

St Johns Industrial Air Park (KSJN)

Coordinates

34.5000, -109.3700

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N3148C

Category

Airplane

Year built

1954

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dalhart → St. Johns

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14LA042

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power while on final approach due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot’s improper preflight fuel planning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot was conducting a cross-country flight. While on final approach to the destination airport, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot subsequently made a forced off-airport landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. During the recovery of the wreckage, no fuel was found in the right wing fuel tank and less than 4 gallons of fuel was found in the left wing fuel tank. The fuel system was intact, and no sign of fuel leakage from either tank was observed. The engine was test run with no anomalies noted. Although the pilot had conducted the flight many times before without incident, given the evidence, it is likely that the pilot did not ensure that adequate fuel was onboard the airplane for this flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.