- Date
- July 28, 2009, 16:02 local (21:02 UTC)
- Place
- Lexington, KY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6433KCessna 150M
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: 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
- 20090728012309A
- Case key
- 74392
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 loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate fuel manangement.
Findings · 1
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 departed on the outbound leg of a cross country flight with the fuel tanks filled to "1/8-inch below the solid ring of the [fuel filler] neck." He departed on the return leg of the flight without refueling the airplane, and about 6 miles prior to reaching the final destination, the engine lost power. The pilot adjusted the engine controls, which restored engine power briefly, but it again lost power, and he subsequently performed a forced landing. The airplane touched down, struck a fence, and was substantially damaged. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that there was no odor of fuel, no evidence of fuel spillage, and that the airplane contained less than 8 quarts of fuel at the scene. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot stated "even though indications were that there was sufficient fuel for the return flight, getting fuel at [the departure airport] as a precaution would have prevented the accident."
Factual narrative
The pilot departed on the outbound leg of a cross country flight with the fuel tanks filled to "1/8-inch below the solid ring of the [fuel filler] neck." He departed on the return leg of the flight without refueling the airplane, and about 6 miles prior to reaching the final destination, the engine lost power. The pilot adjusted the engine controls, which restored engine power briefly, but it again lost power, and he subsequently performed a forced landing. The airplane touched down, struck a fence, and was substantially damaged. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that there was no odor of fuel, no evidence of fuel spillage, and that the airplane contained less than 8 quarts of fuel at the scene. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot stated "even though indications were that there was sufficient fuel for the return flight, getting fuel at [the departure airport] as a precaution would have prevented the accident."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6433K
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15077702
- Airframe hours
- 7,430
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental Motors O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lexington Flying Club Inc
- Registered owner
- Lexington Flying Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2009
- Departed
- OWB · Owensboro, KS
- Destination
- LEX · Lexington, KY
- Airport
- LEX · Blue Grass 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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 9, 2009
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 302 total · 15 in this make and model · 218 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- LEX, 3 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 15, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 MB 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 N6433K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.