- Date
- March 11, 1989, 18:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Coolidge, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1365FCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890311003909A
- Case key
- 7997
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
Fuel contamination of an unknown origin, failure of company maintenance personnel to locate and remove all contamination, continued operation of the aircraft by the pilot after the cause of a known engine problem was not determined, and subsequent fuel starvation. The light conditions at dusk and the soft terrain in the emergency landing area were contributing factors.
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 engine lost pwr during a ferry flt & a forced ldg was made in a soft field, where the airplane nosed over. A post-crash investigation revealed that the carburetor fuel-inlet filter screen was mostly blocked with a lint-like material. A microscopic exam of the material revealed that it appeared to be cloth fibers. The source of the material was not determined. Further investigation revealed that the engine had experienced repeated, intermittent pwr losses over the previous week in spite of repeated efforts by company mechanics to locate the source of the problem. According to the mechanics, contamination was found in the fuel system during those efforts; the filters were cleaned and the fuel system was flushed. The intermittent power losses occurred again. Earlier on this flt, the engine began to surge & a precautionary ldg was made. The mechanic accompanying the plt reportedly found no problems and the flt was continued. The accident occurred about 1 hr later.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1365F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17254860
- Airframe hours
- 4,444
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Flewellen Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Flewellen Aviation, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 31, 1989 · 56 hours before
- Departed
- X31 · Crystal River, FL
- Destination
- ABY · Albany, GA
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
- 40
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,706 total · 149 in this make and model · 2,590 as pilot in command · 107 in the last 90 days · 36 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.