- Date
- November 17, 1988, 19:45 local (Nov 18, 1988, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Pikeville, KY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2840QCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881117051049A
- Case key
- 7957
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 pilot had flown about 3.7 hours and was about 2 miles from his destination airport when the engine stopped and he was forced to land in a swamp. The pilot had topped off the acft so that it contained 42 gallons of fuel (38 gallons of usable fuel). The wreckage examination indicated that the fuel system was totally void of fuel. The pilot did not attempt to land at another airport to refuel even though the flight came within 5 miles of an airport where there was fuel available. The pilot failed to properly compute his fuel consumption for the existing headwind conditions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2840Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17259840
- Airframe hours
- 2,216
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Twin Eagle Flying Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 17, 1988 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- HGR · Hagerstown, MD
- Destination
- Pikeville, KY
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 225 total · 175 in this make and model · 145 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LOZ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.