Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 172E near Plano, TX — 2009-01-23

Final reportCEN09LA143
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Date
2009-01-23
Location
Plano, TX, USA
Aircraft
CESSNA 172E
Registration
N5420T
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

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

NTSB narrative

While en route to his destination airport, the pilot of the single-engine airplane encountered a loss of engine power. Unable to reach the destination airport, he performed a forced landing to a golf course. On the landing roll-out the airplane entered a sand bunker, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. The pilot later reported that he departed with 17 gallons of fuel in the airplane's fuel tanks and estimated that he used 8 gallons en route to his destination. During removal of the airplane from the accident scene, about 3 gallons of fuel was found in the fuel tanks, consistent with the amount of unusable fuel in a Cessna 172E. No evidence of a fuel leak was discovered, and no fuel was found in the sand bunker where the airplane came to rest. During a test run, the airplane's engine was started and ran at various power settings; no abnormalities were noted.

NTSB coding

View NTSB final report

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