- Date
- June 29, 2007, 21:31 local (Jun 30, 2007, 02:31 UTC)
- Place
- Yorkville, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N738SVCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report October 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20070629015899A
- Case key
- 66831
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 inadequate fuel consumption calculations by the pilot, the fuel exhaustion during cruise flight, and the unsuitable landing area encountered by the pilot. Contributing factors were the night light conditions and trees.
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 impacted terrain during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power during cruise flight. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that when he had the destination airport in sight, the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge indicated "just below 1/4 tank." The engine then lost power and he was unable to restart it. The pilot executed a forced landing on a "dark spot" on the ground and airplane impacted trees. Examination of the airplane fuel tanks revealed no usable fuel aboard.
Factual narrative
The airplane impacted terrain during a forced landing following a total loss of engine power during cruise flight. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that when he had the destination airport in sight, the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge indicated "just below 1/4 tank." The engine then quit and he was unable to restart it. The pilot executed a forced landing on a "dark spot" on the ground and airplane impacted trees. Examination of the airplane fuel tanks revealed no usable fuel aboard.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N738SV
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270209
- Engine
- Textron Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Noble Flight
- Registered owner
- Noble Fox Enterprises Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OLV · Olive Branch, MS
- Destination
- ARR · Chicago/Aurora, IL
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 48
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 648 total · 600 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.