- Date
- July 22, 2015, 19:22 local (Jul 23, 2015, 03:22 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5722BCessna 182
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 5, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150722021679A
- Case key
- 91614
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to ensure adequate fuel was onboard to complete the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the subsequent loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the improperly calibrated fuel quantity indication system.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was on a personal sightseeing flight when she realized she was low on fuel, and immediately diverted to an alternate airport. While enroute to the alternate airport she determined that enough fuel remained by consulting her onboard fuel computer, and elected to continue to her destination. As she approached her destination airport, the airplane's engine began to sputter, followed by a total loss of engine power, and she selected a small private airstrip as a landing site. During the emergency descent she "undershot" the landing area, and flared into the trees near the approach end of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and noted that the loss of engine power was due to fuel exhaustion.
Factual narrative
The pilot was on a personal sightseeing flight when she realized she was low on fuel, and immediately diverted to an alternate airport. While enroute to the alternate airport she determined that enough fuel remained by consulting her onboard fuel computer, and elected to continue to her destination. As she approached her destination airport, the airplane's engine began to sputter, followed by a total loss of engine power, and she selected a small private airstrip as a landing site. During the emergency descent she "undershot" the landing area, and flared into the trees near the approach end of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and noted that the loss of engine power was due to fuel exhaustion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5722B
- Reported as
- Cessna 182 (F)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 33722
- Airframe hours
- 1,901.1
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- Unknown
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bitney Deborah M
- Registered owner
- Bitney Deborah M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2014
- Departed
- PAMR · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Big Lake, AK
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 17, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 166 total · 74 in this make and model · 88 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.54 inHg
- Observed at
- PAWS
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 13, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.