- Date
- September 3, 1988, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Berkeley, KY
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N52655Cessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880903036899A
- Case key
- 7806
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt reported that he departed with 6 hrs of fuel on board. He encountered low ceilings while en route, and flew at 3-500 ft AGL to maintain VFR. About 3 hrs & 15 minutes after departure, the engine sputtered and lost power. The plt made a forced ldg in trees. While securing the airplane, he observed the fuel selector in the 'left' (tank) position instead of in the 'both' position where he normally positioned it for flight. Post-crash exam of the airplane at the site by an IA mechanic revealed that the right tank was completely full of fuel. The left tank was impact damaged & contained only about a pint of fuel. The plt noted that the airplane fuel gauges were not operational, and that he kept track of fuel consumption by elapsed time and known average fuel flow per hour.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N52655
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG1232
- Airframe hours
- 3,068
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michael Oil Company, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Springfield, MO
- Destination
- Hopkinsville, KY
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 705 total · 228 in this make and model · 650 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 11 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAH, 22 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.