- Date
- July 21, 1985, 21:00 local (Jul 22, 1985, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hart, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2785NCessna 120
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850721032809A
- Case key
- 13156
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 on the return leg of a x.country flt failed to visually check his fuel supply and selected an empty tank for takeoff. On liftoff the engine stopped and the pilot attempted to ld on the remaining 300 ft of runway. After touchdown the acft veered off of the runway into soft soil and nosed over inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2785N
- Reported as
- Cessna 120
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 13046
- Airframe hours
- 2,180
- Engine
- Continental C85-12, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard A.Hatfield
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 1985 · 55 hours before
- Departed
- C04 · Hart, MI
- Destination
- MKG · Muskegon, MI
- Airport
- CO4 · Oceana County, runway 26, 2,020 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 983 total · 58 in this make and model · 924 as pilot in command · 84 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 220° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MKG, 37 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.