Cessna 172 N3031U

Summary

On 1 May 2019 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N3031U was involved in an accident near Wasilla, Alaska, United States. 2 people were 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

1 May 2019 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wasilla, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.5992, -149.4506

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N3031U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wasilla → Wasilla

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA19CA236

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's failure to verify the fuel level, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent forced landing and collision with a power line pole. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot's inadequate preflight fuel planning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that, during the preflight inspection, he asked the student pilot, who was the owner of the airplane, how much fuel was onboard the airplane and that the student replied that there was enough fuel for about 3 hours of flight. He added that, during the flight, he became concerned about the fuel level because he saw that the right fuel gauge needle displayed "little movement." After a brief conversation with the student about the fuel burn, the instructor decided to return to the airport. The student stated that he visually checked the fuel tanks during the preflight and estimated that there was about 1/2 tank (19 gallons), which was enough for about 2.5 hours of flight based on a fuel burn of 7.5 gph. The student reported that, during the flight, the instructor commented that the fuel gauge looked low and that he responded that it was working "intermittently," at which point, the instructor decided to return to the airport. The student reported that, about 5 nautical miles from the airport, the airplane "ran out of fuel at 3,000 ft MSL [mean sea level]." Subsequently, the instructor landed the airplane on a road, and the right wing struck a power line pole. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.