- Date
- August 19, 1989, 18:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Howell, MI
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N33NCessna T-337D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890819030469A
- Case key
- 14407
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 poor preflight planning and inaccurate fuel consumption calculations. Contributing factor was maintenance personnel's not performing correct calibration of fuel gages.
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
During normal cruise, the engines lost power due to fuel exhaustion. During the landing roll, after a forced landing in a rough/uneven field, the nose gear collapsed. Subsequent investigation revealed that the fuel gages on the main tanks read 1/4 full after the fuel exhaustion. Examination of the main fuel tanks revealed only unusable fuel remained.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N33N
- Reported as
- Cessna T-337D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 337-1122
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360-A/B, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stevens, Thomas M.
- Registered owner
- Smith, Norman J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 3FM · Freemont, MI
- Destination
- PTK · Pontiac, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,600 total · 51 in this make and model · 3,950 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PTK, 36 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.
Other investigations on N33N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.