- Date
- October 20, 2023, 18:55 local (23:55 UTC)
- Place
- Wichita, KS · Along a street in a commercial area
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1413YCessna 172C
- 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
- FAA report
- 20231020017739A
- Case key
- 193286
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 inspection and fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Findings · 4
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 reported that she filled the airplane with fuel before departure. After flying for about 4 hours, the engine lost power and she executed a forced landing on a road about 1.5 miles from the destination airport. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted two street signs and a power pole guy wire which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane’s left wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies with the fuel system; the fuel tanks were empty, and there was no evidence of a fuel leak. About 8 ounces of fuel were recovered from the gascolator. The pilot noted that verification of total fuel onboard before each departure and more accurate usage of the airplane’s performance charts could have prevented the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1413Y
- Reported as
- Cessna 172C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17249113
- Built
- 1961
- Airframe hours
- 2,136
- Engine
- Continental O-300D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 21, 2022 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- AAO · Wichita, KS
- Destination
- ICT · Wichita, KS
- Airport
- ICT · Dwight D Eisenhower, runway 19L, 7,302 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B
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
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 16, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 288.9 total · 110.7 in this make and model · 204.4 as pilot in command · 20.9 in the last 90 days · 9.1 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.83 inHg
- Observed at
- KICT, 12 nm away
- METAR
- KICT 202353Z 19007KT 10SM CLR 22/06 A2983 RMK AO2 SLP096 T02170061 10300 20217 56008
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 12, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 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.