- Date
- November 18, 2001, 15:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- Sedalia, MO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N48285Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 13, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Kansas City FSDO
- Case key
- 53842
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 in-flight planning/decision which led to fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the soft, rough/uneven terrain.
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 stated that approximately four miles from the airport the engine "slowed and then stopped." The pilot reported that he established best glide speed and made a forced landing to an agricultural field. The pilot stated that the agricultural field was "freshly plowed and muddy." A post-accident inspection of the airplane revealed there was no usable fuel remaining in either of the wing fuel tanks. The fuel tanks were not ruptured. The accident airplane had been fueled with 24.7 gallons of fuel 30 minutes prior to the accident flight. The useable fuel for the Cessna 150 is 24.5 gallons. The fuel endurance for a Cessna 152 at maximum cruise power at 2,000 feet above mean sea level is 3.25 hours. The accident occurred 4 hours and 10 minutes after departure.
Factual narrative
On November 18, 2001, at 1510 central standard time, a Cessna 152, N48285, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing near Sedalia, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot and his passenger did not report any injuries. The cross-country flight departed Terre Haute International Airport - Huffman Field, Terre Haute, Indiana, at 1100, and was en route to Sedalia Memorial Airport (DMO), Sedalia, Missouri, at the time of the accident.
According to the pilot's written statement, about 4 miles from runway 18 at DMO the engine "slowed and then stopped." The pilot reported he established best glide speed and made a forced landing to an agricultural field. The pilot stated the agricultural field was "freshly plowed and muddy."
A post-accident inspection of the airplane revealed there was no usable fuel remaining in either of the wing fuel tanks. The fuel tanks were not ruptured.
A fuel receipt, dated November 18, 2001, indicated the accident airplane had been fueled with 24.7 gallons of fuel 30 minutes prior to the accident flight. The useable fuel for the Cessna 150 is 24.5 gallons. According to the Cessna 152 Pilot Operating Handbook, the fuel endurance at maximum cruise power at 2,000 feet above mean sea level is 3.25 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48285
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15283319
- Airframe hours
- 4,557
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Timothy R. Reeder - Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 31, 2001 · 41 hours before
- Departed
- HUF · Terre Haute, IN
- Destination
- DMO · Sedalia, MO
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- September 30, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 51 total · 38 in this make and model · 24 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- DMO, 2 nm away