# Accident 20250106005129A: Cessna 150D, El Monte, CA, January 6, 2025

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: January 6, 2025, 07:50 local time
- Place: El Monte, CA
- Airport: San Gabriel Valley
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.0943° N, 118.0431° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.0943&lon=-118.0431&mi=10
- Aircraft: N5943T, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N5943T) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 150D (registry code 2071810, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-150d) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental 0-200 series (registry code 17020, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 150D
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Airline transport, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 6,800 total, 20 in this make and model, 14 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB WPR25LA073](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR25LA073) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250106005129A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

CFI WAS INTERVIEWED BY LAX FSDO INSPECTOR OUTSIDE [ADDRESS] AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30AM ON MONDAY JANUARY 6, 2025. CFI STATED THAT HE WAS THE PIC OF ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AND WAS GIVING INSTRUCTION TO STUDENT AT THE TIME. CFI STATED THAT HIMSELF AND STUDENT ARRIVED AT EL MONTE AIRPORT AT APPROXIMATELY 05:30AM, WHERE STUDENT PERFORMED A PREFLIGHT CHECK OF THE AIRCRAFT.

CFI STATED THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD SEVEN (7) GALLONS OF FUEL, WHICH WAS VERIFIED BY DIPPING THE TANKS. CFI STATED THAT THE AIRCRAFT BURNED APPROX. THREE (3) GAL/HR AT 2100RPM AND SINCE THE MAJORITY OF THE LESSON WAS INTENDED TO BE PATTERN WORK, HE WAS ONLY GOING TO BE AT FULL POWER FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. HE SURMISED THAT THE SEVEN (7) GALLONS DIPPED, WAS ENOUGH FOR THE PLANNED 1 – 1.5-HOUR FLIGHT.

WHEN ASKED WHERE HIS CALCULATIONS CAME FROM, CFI REFERENCED A CESSNA 150D OPERATINGHANDBOOK WHICH HE HAD AVAILABLE ON HIS PHONE. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HOW UNUSABLE FUEL FACTORED INTO HIS CALCULATIONS, CFI CONFIDENTLY REPLIED THAT UNUSABLE FUEL WAS THAT FUEL CONTAINED IN THE FUEL LINES, AND NOT THE FUEL THAT WAS INACCESSIBLE IN THE FUEL TANK. HOWEVER, CFI DID ADMIT THAT THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE, WAS THAT THEY RAN OUT OF FUEL.

FOLLOWING THE PREFLIGHT, CFI CONDUCTED A GROUND LESSON STARTING APPROXIMATELY 06:30AM, INTRODUCING STUDENT TO THE TRAFFIC PATTERN. STUDENT HAD COMPLETED LESSONS ON BASIC MANEUVERS AND AT 11 – 12 HOURS, WAS READY TO BEGIN HIS FIRST FLIGHT IN THE PATTERN.

^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^TOOK OFF AT APPROXIMATELY 07:00AM INITIALLY FLYING TO THE PRACTICE AREA TO RECAP SIMULATED PATTERN AND AIR WORK. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^THEN RETURNED TO THE EMT PATTERN, WHERE CFI STATED HE DEMONSTRATED A COUPLE OF PATTERNS TO A LOW APPROACH ON RUNWAY 01, BEFORE LETTING HIS STUDENT PERFORM THREE PATTERNS TO A LOW APPROACH. DURING THE THIRD CLIMB OUT, AT APPROXIMATELY 300FT, CFI STATED THAT THE ENGINE COUGHED AND SPLUTTERED BEFORE DYING. TAKING THE CONTROLS FROM HIS STUDENT, CFI STATED THAT HE INITIALLY LINED UP THE AIRCRAFT FOR A ROAD, BUT WHEN MANEUVERING TO WINGS LEVEL, THE ENGINE STARTED AGAIN, SO HE READJUSTED HIS LANDING POSITION TO DUCK UNDER A POWER LINE AND ENDED UP CLIPPING SEVERAL TREES BEFORE COMING TO REST ON TOP OF THE FENCE AND SHRUBBERY, CLOSE TO THE HOUSE.

CFI AND STUDENT WERE UNABLE TO EXIT THE AIRCRAFT VIA THE DOORS, AS THE DOORS WERE HELD SHUT BY BRANCHES AND BENT METAL. CFI UNPINNED THE WINDOW HINGE, AND THEY EXITED THE AIRCRAFT VIA THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB WPR25LA073](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR25LA073), Jan 6, 2025: Cessna 150D (N5943T), Temple City, CA, substantial damage. Probable cause: The flight instructor’s unfamiliarity with the fuel quantities the fuel measuring dip stick measured and inadequate preflight inspection which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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