- Date
- September 27, 1993, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fayette, IA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N35163Cessna 177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930927038629A
- Case key
- 9330
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-in-command's failure to refuel the airplane. A factor was a road sign and fuel exhaustion.
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
While in cruise flight the airplane sustained a total loss of engine power. A forced landing was made on a road where the airplane struck a sign. Post accident examination revealed only unusable fuel in tanks.
Factual narrative
On September 27, 1993, at 1400 central daylight time, a Cessna 177B, N35163, registered to Red Baron Flyers, Inc. of Caledonia, Minnesota, and operated by a private rated pilot, experienced a loss of engine power and conducted a forced landing on a gravel road two and one-half miles east of Fayette, Iowa. On roll out the left wing impacted a road sign and exited the road into a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot and three passengers reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed Owasso, Oklahoma, at 0900, with the intended destination of Caledonia, Minnesota.
The pilot in his written statement gave no indication of reason for loss of engine power, other than to describe a "pop" and loss of power.
Post accident examination of the fuel tanks revealed only unusable fuel remaining.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35163
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702239
- Airframe hours
- 3,884
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Red Baron Flyers, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Red Baron Flyers, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1993 · 63 hours before
- Departed
- OK16 · Owasso, OK
- Destination
- CHU · Caledonia, MN
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 112 total · 39 in this make and model · 79 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ALO, 45 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.