- Date
- December 11, 1992, 19:54 local (Dec 12, 1992, 00:54 UTC)
- Place
- Columbus, GA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8819ZCessna 172H
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921211049899A
- Case key
- 8709
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The student pilot's failure to plan a refueling stop for the flight which resulted in the complete exhaustion of the fuel supply and a loss of engine power.
Analysis
According to the operator, the student pilot and his flight instructor completed the preflight planning which included computing required fuel. The flight planning concluded that the pilot had ample fuel plus approximately 1.7 hours of fuel upon returning to Columbus. The engine quit on approach and the airplane collided with trees two miles short of collumbus. The examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem. The student pilot flew the airplane 4.7 hours prior to the total loss of engine power. The student pilot also failed to account for the additional flight time above the planned flight time required for the flight.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8819Z
- Reported as
- Cessna 172H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17255469
- Airframe hours
- 4,541
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Columbus Flight Academy
- Registered owner
- Corporate Air Transport, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 7, 1992 · 54 hours before
- Departed
- MCN · Macon, GA
- 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
- 33
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 40 in this make and model · 22 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 310° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CSG, 2 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.