- Date
- November 27, 1996, 13:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Hammond, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2440LCessna 172H
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 1, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961127036799A
- Case key
- 20117
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 inadequate preflight, resulting in the total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
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
Approximately 5 miles west of the destination airport, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot landed the airplane in a field, and during the landing roll, the left wing struck a concrete pump house. The FAA inspector on the scene reported that he checked the fuel tanks and found 'no fuel in the right wing tank' and 'about a cup' of fuel in the left wing tank. The pilot 'thought the aircraft was full of fuel' when he began the flight. He told the FAA inspector that he had made 'a visual check of the fuel in the tanks' during his preflight. The operator of the airplane reported that the airplane had been 'topped off' the day before the accident and then flown .7 hours. The airplane was not refueled after the .7 hour flight. The accident flight lasted 4.1 hours. The operating handbook for the Cessna 172H shows that at a cruising altitude of 5,000 feet and an engine power setting of 2,500 RPM, a Cessna 172H will have an endurance of 4.8 hours.
Factual narrative
On November 27, 1996, at 1305 central standard time, a Cessna 172H, N2440L, registered to Texsan Aviation and operated by Howell's Aircraft Service, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Hammond, Louisiana. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. A flight plan was not filed for the cross country flight that originated in Grand Prairie, Texas, at approximately 0920.
The pilot reported that he was inbound to the Hammond Municipal Airport. Approximately 5 miles west of the airport, at an altitude of 2,000 feet MSL, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot landed the airplane in a field, and during the landing roll, the left wing struck a concrete pump house substantially damaging the wing.
The FAA inspector on the scene reported that he checked the fuel tanks and found "no fuel in the right wing tank" and "about a cup" of fuel in the left wing tank. The pilot told the FAA inspector that he "thought the aircraft was full of fuel" when he began the flight. He also told the inspector that he had made "a visual check of the fuel in the tanks" during his preflight.
The operator of the airplane told the NTSB investigator that the airplane had been "topped off" the day before the accident and then flown .7 hours. The airplane was not refueled after the .7 hour flight. According to the operator's records, the accident flight lasted 4.1 hours. The operating handbook for the Cessna 172H shows that at a cruising altitude of 5,000 feet and an engine power setting of 2,500 RPM, a Cessna 172H will have an endurance of 4.8 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2440L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17255640
- Airframe hours
- 3,484
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Howell'S Aircraft Service
- Registered owner
- Texsan Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 13, 1996 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- GPM · Grand Prairie, TX
- Destination
- 0R9
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 114 total · 82 in this make and model · 36 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N2440L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.