- Date
- February 27, 1990, 19:26 local (Feb 28, 1990, 01:26 UTC)
- Place
- Tomball, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N51402Cessna 150J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 4, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900227002949A
- Case key
- 23110
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 in command's inaccurate fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Factors in this accident were: the dark night, and the soft/wet terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane experienced a complete loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion on an extended downwind after a two leg cross country flight, which lasted 2.9 hours. The second pilot executed a night forced landing as he had more total time than the PIC. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered soft/wet terrain, the nose gear partially collapsed, and the airplane flipped over. Investigation revealed that the rental airplane had flown 1 flight of 0.7 hrs before departing on the accident trip and had not been refueled on its return. The PIC had based her fuel consumption calculations on a rate of 4.6 gph instead of the 6.4 gph that records indicated was the correct consumption rate.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51402
- Reported as
- Cessna 150J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15069983
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Merriworth Aviation
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- T97 · Port Lavaca, TX
- Destination
- DWH · Tomball, TX
- Airport
- DWH · David Wayne Hooks, runway 17, 7,000 × 100 ft, macadam
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 23
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 55 total · 9 in this make and model · 29 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 140° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Observed at
- DWH
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.