- Date
- July 27, 2023, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cortland, IL · Corn field
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N30632Cessna 177
- Defining event
- Approach: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Greater Chicago FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230727013509A
- Case key
- 192730
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 improper fuel planning, that resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and a subsequent forced landing.
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 pilot and the passenger were conducting a personal cross-country flight. While on approach to the airport, which was a planned fuel stop, the airplane sustained a total loss of engine power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a corn field and the airplane came to rest nose-down. The two occupants were extracted from the airplane by first responders. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot reported to first responders that the airplane “ran out of fuel.” The pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N30632
- Reported as
- Cessna 177 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17701371
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 5,200.48
- Engine
- Lycoming Engines O-360-A1F6, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 14, 2022 · 69.67 hours before
- Departed
- EVV · Evansville, IN
- Destination
- DKB · DeKalb, IL
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, Electronic multifunction display
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
- 34
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 19, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 109 total · 4 in this make and model · 39 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KDKB, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KDKB 271715Z AUTO 19003KT 10SM BKN034 30/23 A3000 RMK AO2 T03000234
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 21, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.