- Date
- May 20, 2009, 16:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Perryville, MD
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3063UCessna 172
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA / FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090520008779A
- Case key
- 73873
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
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot and owner of the airplane departed on a round-trip cross-country flight with one stop. Before departure the owner topped off the fuel tanks and the pilot elected to trust the owner on the accuracy of the fuel amount. No fuel was added and the fuel level was not verified while at the enroute stop. Ten miles from the departure airport, on the return leg, the engine stopped running. The pilot attempted to restart the engine and switched fuel tanks, but the engine would not restart. The pilot elected to land in an empty field; during the landing, the airplane overran the field boundary, went through a ditch, and impacted a tree as it crossed a road before coming to a stop. In the process, the airplane’s nose gear broke off and damaged the leading edge of the right wing. The pilot and owner exited the airplane without assistance. The airplane had been flown for a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes in the round-trip flight before the engine stopped running due to fuel exhaustion.
Factual narrative
The pilot and owner of the airplane departed on a round trip cross-country flight with one stop. Before departure the owner topped off the fuel tanks and the pilot elected to trust the owner on the accuracy of the fuel amount. No fuel was added or fuel level verified while at the enroute stop. Ten miles from the departure airport, on the return leg, the engine stopped running. The pilot attempted to restart the engine and switched fuel tanks, but the engine would not re-start. The pilot elected to land in an empty field; overran the field boundary, went through a ditch, and impact a tree as it crossed a road before coming to a stop. In the process, the airplane’s nose gear broke off and damaged the leading edge of the right wing. The pilot and owner exited the airplane without assistance. The airplane had been flown for a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes in the round trip flight before the engine stopped running due to fuel exhaustion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3063U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (D)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17250663
- Airframe hours
- 3,555
- Engine
- Continental O300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 2009 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- 9VG · Weirwood, VA
- Destination
- OW3 · Churchville, MD
- Airport
- OW3 · Hartford County Airport
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 260 total · 225 in this make and model · 50 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.38 inHg
- Observed at
- KMTN, 25 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 29, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 755 KB in all.
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 N3063U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.