- Date
- May 3, 2009, 18:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Opelousas, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4590KCessna 152
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 73784
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
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to flight.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The commercial pilot was 500 feet above ground level on approach to his destination airport when the single-engine airplane lost power. The pilot made a forced landing to a rain-soaked field approximately 8 miles north of the runway. On touchdown the nose gear sank into the muddy terrain and collapsed. According to the pilot the airplane had approximately 15 gallons of fuel on board upon departure. An on-scene inspection of the fuel tanks indicated 2 1/2 gallons in the left tank and 1 gallon in the right tank. The aircraft manual states 1 1/2 gallons of fuel is unusable in the tanks. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot and passenger were not injured.
Factual narrative
The commercial pilot was 500 feet above ground level on approach to his destination airport when the single-engine airplane lost power. The pilot made a forced landing to a rain-soaked field approximately 8 miles north of the runway. On touchdown the nose gear sank into the muddy terrain and collapsed. According to the pilot the airplane had approximately 15 gallons of fuel on board upon departure. An on-scene inspection of the fuel tanks indicated 2 1/2 gallons in the left tank and 1 gallon in the right tank. The aircraft manual states 1 1/2 gallons of fuel is unusable in the tanks. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot and passenger were not injured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4590K
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280319
- Airframe hours
- 7,070
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- T & M Aviation, INC
- Registered owner
- Thomas Wolf Trucking Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 24, 2009
- Departed
- M79 · Rayville, LA
- Destination
- KOPL · Opelousas, LA
- Airport
- KOPL · St Landry Parish Airport
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
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 29, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,015 total · 50 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- KOPL, 8 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 524 KB in all.