- Date
- October 29, 1995, 21:00 local (Oct 30, 1995, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Boulder, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7590RCessna 182TR
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951029034999A
- Case key
- 19698
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 determine the amount of fuel aboard the aircraft during preflight, and his failure to refuel the aircraft.
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
While on a local flight, a total loss of power occurred and a forced landing was made in an unoccupied parking lot. During landing, the aircraft struck a light pole. Examination of the aircraft revealed no fuel to be aboard, and investigation revealed that the pilot did not have the aircraft fueled prior to departure.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 1995, at 2100 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182TR, N7590R, made a forced landing in a parking lot near Boulder, Colorado. The private pilot received serious injuries and the three passengers were not injured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local area flight operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed Boulder Municipal Airport (1V5) about 2000.
The aircraft sustained a total loss of power and the pilot landed the aircraft in a parking lot. The aircraft struck a light pole prior to touch down. The lot was unoccupied at the time of the accident.
An on scene investigation was conducted by an FAA airworthiness inspector. Examination of the aircraft provided no evidence of structure or system failure or malfunction and no evidence of fuel was found at the accident site. In addition, the people who recovered the aircraft said they found no evidence of fuel.
In an interview with the FAA, the pilot stated that the engine quit due to fuel exhaustion.
The operator said that the aircraft had returned from a cross country flight and had not been fueled prior to being rented to the pilot of the accident flight. The amount of fuel aboard at the time this flight departed could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7590R
- Reported as
- Cessna 182TR
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18200653
- Airframe hours
- 2,773
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-L3C5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dakota Ridge Aviation
- Registered owner
- Helvetik Flyers, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 14, 1995 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- 1V5
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 665 total · 23 in this make and model · 543 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 16,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 5 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.