- Date
- November 26, 1992, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hamlin, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7124ACessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921126048199A
- Case key
- 18619
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 failure to switch fuel tanks and his failure to perform the prescribed emergency procedures following the fuel starvation induced engine failure. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the emergency landing.
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
According to the student pilot, after about an hour in flight, he switched the fuel selector from both to the left tank. During descent into his destination area, the engine quit. The pilot stated that he had forgotten to switch tanks and had run the left tank dry. He said that he concentrated on flying the airplane and did not attempt to switch tanks and restart the engine. He selected a cotton field as a forced landing area; however, he overshot and the airplane landed in a mesquite thicket. After rolling through the thicket, the airplane came to rest in a four foot deep stock pond.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7124A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 29224
- Airframe hours
- 1,852
- Engine
- Continental O-300-A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Klepper, David L.
- Registered owner
- Klepper, David L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 22, 1992 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- 1F7 · Dallas, TX
- Destination
- 56F · Rotan, TX
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 145 total · 37 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABI, 38 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.