- Date
- June 16, 2005, 09:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- Marcelles, MI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9327UCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050616013639A
- Case key
- 61827
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 total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the CFI's inadequate supervision and inadequate planning/decision. The student pilot's inadequate preflight planning was a contributing factor.
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 airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a field after a loss of engine power. The certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that they had been flying for about one hour. The airplane was in cruise flight at 3,000 feet above mean sea level with the student pilot at the controls when the engine sputtered and quit. The CFI reported that he took control of the airplane and determined that the airplane was out of fuel. He executed a forced landing to a field. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the left fuel tank had about one gallon of fuel and the right tank was empty. The student pilot reported that he had conducted the preflight and walk-around of the airplane. The student pilot noticed that the airplane was low on fuel but failed to inform the CFI that the airplane needed fuel before takeoff.
Factual narrative
On June 16, 2005, at 0945 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N9327U, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a field near Marcelles, Michigan, after a loss of engine power. The certified flight instructor (CFI) received a serious injury, and the student pilot was not injured. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight departed Three Rivers Municipal Airport (HAI), Three Rivers, Michigan, on a local flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed.
The CFI reported that they had been flying for about one hour. The airplane was in cruise flight at 3,000 feet above mean sea level with the student pilot at the controls when the engine sputtered and quit. The CFI reported that he took control of the airplane and determined that the airplane was out of fuel. He executed a forced landing to a field.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the airplane. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the left fuel tank had about one gallon of fuel and the right tank was empty.
The student pilot informed the FAA inspector that he had conducted the preflight and walk-around of the airplane. The student pilot noticed that the airplane was low on fuel but failed to inform the CFI that the airplane needed fuel before takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9327U
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078276
- Engine
- Continental O-200, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Conrad Aero LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HAI · Three Rivers, MI
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 2,395 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 97 in the last 90 days · 54 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 19
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 80 total · 42 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.