- Date
- May 22, 2004, 09:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Teresa, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2852YCessna 182E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20040522009379A
- Case key
- 59300
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 inadequate in-flight planning and decision-making, which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing factors to the accident were the fuel exhaustion and the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
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 told an FAA inspector that he had completed an air drop of skydivers at 14,000 feet and was returning to land. During the descent, the engine quit. The pilot initially thought it was due to carburetor ice, but then realized that he ran "out of fuel." The pilot was forced to land the airplane short of the runway. The airplane impacted terrain collapsing the nose landing gear and buckling the firewall. The pilot did not provide a Pilot Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) for this accident.
Factual narrative
On May 22, 2004, at 0950 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182E, N2852Y, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during a forced landing at Dona Ana County at Santa Teresa Airport (5T6), Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The flight originated at approximately 0915.
According to an FAA inspector, the pilot stated that he completed an air drop of skydivers at 14,000 feet and was returning to land. During the descent, the engine quit. The pilot initially thought it was due to carburetor ice, but then realized that he had run "out of fuel." The pilot was forced to land the airplane short of the runway. The airplane impacted terrain collapsing the nose landing gear and buckling the firewall.
The pilot did not report this accident until May 25, 2004, and did not provide a Pilot Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) for this accident. The condition of the airplane and the continuity if its systems, prior to the accident, could not be confirmed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2852Y
- Reported as
- Cessna 182E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18253852
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert H. Kern
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 5T6 · Santa Teresa, CA
- Destination
- 5T6 · Santa Teresa, CA
- Airport
- 5T6 · Dona Ana County at Santa Teres
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15,300 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 19 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- KELP, 18 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.