FTW01LA099

After about 3.8 hours of night cross country instructional flight, the CFI and dual student pilot were in a local touch and go pattern toward the conclusion of the planned flight. With the student pilot at the controls, during the final take off, the airplane was at an altitude of about 50 feet AGL when the engine lost power. The CFI took control and landed the airplane on the end of the departure runway, but could not stop before rolling through a grass field, a barbed wire fence, over a road, and into a ditch. A visual inspection of the aircraft at the accident site revealed that the fuel gauge for the left fuel tank did not register any amount of fuel, and the right fuel tank gauge registered below the "E" mark on the gauge. A visual check of the sight gauges on level ground showed about 1/4 gallons in the right fuel tank and less than 1 gallon in the left fuel tank.

On April 12, 2001, approximately 0300 central daylight time, a Cessna 150L airplane, N19045, registered to and operated by a private individual, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power after take off from the Wichita Valley Airpark, Iowa Park, Texas. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and his student pilot were not injured. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight originated from Bowie, Texas, approximately 0200.

During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge, the CFI reported that he was giving his student night flight instruction, and was in the local traffic pattern performing touch-and-go take offs and landings when the accident occurred. After the last landing, the student pilot was performing a maximum performance takeoff, and during the initial climb, the engine lost power. The CFI took control of the airplane and landed at the end of the paved runway surface. The airplane rolled through a grass field, impacted a barbed wire fence, passed over a road, and came to rest in a ditch.

The airplane was examined by an FAA inspector the morning after the accident. The inspector reported that the left wing was buckled, and the fuselage was buckled just aft of the firewall. A visual check of the fuel tanks on level ground with a sight gauge showed 1/4 gallons of fuel in the left fuel tank, and 1/2 gallons of fuel in the right fuel tank. With electrical power applied, the fuel gauge for the left tank did not register any amount of fuel, and the gauge for the right fuel tank registered slightly below the "E" mark on the gauge.

The pilot submitted a written statement (available in the public docket) indicating that he had calculated the fuel requirement for the flight using flight manual consumption figures of 4.0 to 4.6 gallons per hour (gph) and "knew" that he "had enough calculated fuel to complete the flight." He reported that the aircraft owner told him (after the accident) that the airplane "never used less than 6 gph." The pilot further reported that when the engine lost power, the airplane had benn flown "3.8 hours without refueling."