- Date
- February 7, 1997, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gulfport, MS
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N93873Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970207002389A
- Case key
- 3821
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 inadequate preflight planning/preparation, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power due to an inadequate supply of fuel.
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 reported that the airplane had been flown 1.8 hours prior to his departure, and he did not refuel. He estimated that two and one half hours of fuel remained. Approximately two hours into the flight, while receiving radar vectors back into Gulfport, the engine lost power. The pilot selected a road and made an emergency landing. The airplane collided with a tree while the pilot attempted a forced landing on the paved road. During an aircraft examination, approximately one and one half gallons of aviation fuel were recovered from the fuel system. According to the aircraft operator's manual, approximately one and one half gallons of fuel in the fuel system were considered unusable. A subsequent engine examination failed to disclose a mechanical problem.
Factual narrative
On February 7, 1997, at 1600 central standard time, a Cessna 152, N93873, collided with a tree during an emergency landing to a highway six miles northwest of Gulfport, Mississippi. The visual personal flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The local flight departed Gulfport, Mississippi, at 1330, and made a stop at Dauphin Island.
The pilot reported that the airplane had been flown 1.8 hours prior to his departure, and he did not refuel, but estimated that two and one half hours of fuel remained. Approximately two hours into the flight, and while receiving radar vectors back into Gulfport, the engine quit. The pilot selected a road and made an emergency landing. The airplane collided with a tree while the pilot attempted a forced landing on the paved road.
During the aircraft examination, approximately one and one half gallons of aviation fuel were recovered from the fuel system. According to the aircraft operator's manual, approximately one and one half gallon of fuel in the fuel system are unusable. The subsequent engine examination failed to disclose a mechanical problem.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93873
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285565
- Airframe hours
- 8,750
- Engine
- Lycoming O-223-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Vortex Helicopters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 21, 1996 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- GPT
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
- 23
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 945 total · 275 in this make and model · 24 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GPT, 360 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.
Other investigations on N93873 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.