- Date
- July 30, 1994, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rockford, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N84514Cessna 172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940730019899A
- Case key
- 9614
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 student pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to 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
The student pilot was on a solo instructional cross country flight when the engine lost power. He made a hard, off-airport landing in a hay field. Postaccident investigation revealed that there was no usable fuel in either fuel tank. The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that the accident could have been prevented if he had refueled at the departure airport.
Factual narrative
On July 30, 1994, about 1500 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172K airplane, N84514, sustained substantial damage during a hard, off-airport forced landing near Rockford, Michigan. The solo student pilot reported minor injury. The cross country instructional flight operated in visual meteorological conditions under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot reported a loss of engine power while in cruise flight, and attempted to land in a field. Postaccident inspection revealed a lack of usable fuel in the fuel tanks.
In his written report to the NTSB, under Recommendation (How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented), the pilot wrote: "I should have monitored my fuel more closely and fueled at departure airport."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84514
- Reported as
- Cessna 172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17258506
- Airframe hours
- 6,291
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Zeeland Aero
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 15, 1994 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- MBS · Saginaw, MI
- Destination
- Z98 · Zeeland, MI
- 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 45 total · 45 in this make and model · 20 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.