- Date
- July 15, 2022, 10:10 local (15:10 UTC)
- Place
- Tuscaloosa, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3301JCessna 150G
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220715012509A
- Case key
- 105516
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 student pilot’s inadvertent use of the fuel mixture knob instead of the carburetor heat knob, which resulted in fuel starvation and a subsequent loss of engine power.
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 student pilot was practicing pattern work and while turning onto the base leg of the traffic pattern, inadvertently pulled the mixture knob instead of applying carburetor heat, resulting in a total loss of power. She attempted to restart the engine by pushing the mixture knob back in, however, the propeller had already stopped rotating and the engine did not restart. The student pilot elected to perform a forced landing to a field. During the approach to the field, she realized the airplane was too fast and decided to land in an adjacent field. During the landing, the right wing of the airplane struck a guy wire, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3301J
- Reported as
- Cessna 150G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15066001
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 2,911.9
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2022 · 4.3 hours before
- Airport
- TCL · Tuscaloosa Ntl, runway 04/22, 6,499 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 58.7 total · 44.6 in this make and model · 13.3 as pilot in command · 4.3 in the last 90 days · 4.3 in the last 30 days · 0.2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- TCL
- METAR
- KTCL 152053Z 00000KT 10SM FEW100 34/22 A3007 RMK AO2 SLP178 T03390217 56017
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 31, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.
Other investigations on N3301J · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.