# NTSB ERA26LA135: Cessna 152, N588BR, Thonotosassa, FL, March 3, 2026 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: March 3, 2026, 10:42 local (15:42 UTC) - Place: Thonotosassa, FL - Coordinates: 28.055477, -82.329172 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=28.0555&lon=-82.3292&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Approach: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 7, 2026 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 202600 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA135 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/202600/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA135 ## Probable cause The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Planning/preparation: fuel planning](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 13 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 719 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030/cases.md) - [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 33 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md) - [Fluids: fuel](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Fluid level; cases with it: [Cessna 152, 26 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 1,695 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Approach: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 14 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 804 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md) - [Emergency descent: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 84 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot had planned a multi-leg, cross-country flight at night that was to include a touch-and-go landing at the intermediate destination airport. The pilot had planned that the total duration of the flight would be about 3.25 hours. During the return flight leg, the pilot selected lower altitude cruising altitude than she had originally planned for, deviated slightly from her planned route, and decided to perform a practice instrument approach to the destination airport. About 3.8 (tachometer) hours into the flight, and about while about 10 miles away from the destination airport, the airplane’s engine began losing power. After about 1 minute, the engine lost total power and the pilot conducted a forced landing. The airplane subsequently struck trees and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. Maintenance personnel who recovered the airplane from the accident site drained about 8 oz of fuel from one fuel tank and about 9 oz from the other fuel tank, which was less than the airplane’s unusable fuel quantity of 3/4-gallon per tank. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Based on this information, the pilot’s preflight and inflight fuel planning did not sufficiently account for the prevailing weather conditions, the deviations from her flight plan, and the airplane’s actual fuel consumption, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N588BR](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N588BR), registered now, S/N 15281860 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 152 - Registry model: [Cessna 152](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-152) (registry code 2071835) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 15281860 - Year built: 1978 - Airframe hours: 10060.4 - Engines: Lycoming O-235-L2C 118 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Training Planes LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 11, 2025 - Departed: VDF, Tampa, FL - Destination: ZPH, Zephyrhills, FL - Airport: VDF, Tampa Exec - Equipment: Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 22; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review December 1, 2025; seat: left; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 246.2 total, 246.2 in this make and model, 119.6 as pilot in command, 33.3 in the last 90 days, 9.1 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night - Wind: 70° at 3 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 66 °F, dew point 63 °F - Altimeter: 30.23 inHg - Observed at: VDF, 3 nm away - METAR: METAR KVDF 040355Z AUTO 07003KT 10SM CLR 19/17 A3023 RMK AO2 T01860174 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20260303004389A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260303004389A), Mar 3, 2026: Cessna 152, Thonotosassa, FL, Substantial damage. Aircraft suffered engine shutdown during flight and crash landed in field aproximately 3 miles north-northeast of kvdf. ## Other investigations on N588BR (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB SEA95LA163](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA95LA163), Jul 26, 1995: Cessna 152 (N588BR), Wellsville, UT, substantial damage. Probable cause: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE WITH FLYING IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AND THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE. From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.