- Date
- September 19, 2012, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Quitman, MS
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N172HACessna 172M
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120919022149A
- Case key
- 85086
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 improper preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
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
After flying for about 3 hours on a routine pipeline patrol flight at 1,500 feet above ground level, the engine “sputtered,” then ceased producing power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful and prepared for an emergency landing in a farm field below. The pilot was unable to recall the events that subsequently transpired, but a postaccident examination of the airplane showed that the left main landing gear collapsed during the landing, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and engine firewall. Additionally, the fuel system remained intact and both fuel tanks were absent of fuel. About 1/2 pint of fuel was recovered from the fuel strainer, carburetor supply fuel line, and the carburetor float bowl. Following the accident, the pilot stated that he did not check the fuel level prior to departing on the accident flight and that the accident could have been prevented by performing a proper preflight inspection of the airplane using the published procedure in the pilot’s operating handbook.
Factual narrative
The pilot was performing a routine pipeline patrol flight at 1,500 feet agl, and after flying for about 3 hours, the engine “sputtered,” then ceased producing power. The pilot then attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful, and prepared for an emergency landing in a farm field below. The pilot was unable to recall the events that subsequently transpired, but a post-accident examination of the airplane showed that the left main landing gear collapsed during the landing, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and engine firewall. Additionally, the fuel system remained intact and both fuel tanks were absent of fuel. About 1/2-pint of fuel was recovered from the fuel strainer, carburetor supply fuel line, and the carburetor float bowl. Following the accident, the pilot stated that he did not check the fuel level prior to departing on the accident flight, and that the accident could have been prevented by performing a proper preflight inspection of the airplane using the publish procedure in the pilot’s operating handbook and not “repetitive memory.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N172HA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17260872
- Airframe hours
- 4,275
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 2012
- Departed
- 12J · Brewton, AL
- Destination
- 12J · Brewton, AL
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
- 28
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 23, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 880 total · 808 in this make and model · 550 as pilot in command · 116 in the last 90 days · 74 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- MEI, 17 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 28, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.3 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.