- Date
- June 14, 1992, 11:35 local (17:35 UTC)
- Place
- Gunnison, CO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N52658Cessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920614023909A
- Case key
- 18215
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 failure to maintain directional control. Factor(s) included: fuel exhaustion and the misjudging of fuel consumption calculations.
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
After topping off the 60 gallon usable fuel tanks at centennial airport, englewood, CO, the pilot received two instructional flights totalling 3.1 hours. Three days later, he and two passengers flew to nucla, CO, in 1.7 hours, and purchased 15 gallons of fuel. They continued on to bullfrog basin, UT, in 0.9 hours. On the return trip the next day, after flying 1.2 hours, the engine lost power and the pilot made a forced landing on a highway. During landing the right main landing gear entered soft ground and the airplane swerved off the highway. The retrieval crew said the fuel tanks were empty. The pilot said he should have been able to fly to Gunnison, CO, in 1.4 hours with an 8 gallon reserve.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N52658
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG1234
- Airframe hours
- 1,930
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Newkirk, John J.
- Registered owner
- Colorado Computer Associates
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 11, 1991 · 165 hours before
- Departed
- U07 · Bullfrog, UT
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 322 total · 175 in this make and model · 260 as pilot in command · 53 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.