- Date
- December 2, 2016, 13:07 local (20:07 UTC)
- Place
- Payson, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N992CTDiamond Aircraft Ind DA-20
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20161202021299A
- Case key
- 94461
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 student pilot's improper in-flight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The solo student pilot reported that, while on a cross-country flight, the weather deteriorated at the destination airport. He decided to complete a touch-and-go landing at an airport along the route and then return to the departure airport. The student pilot further reported that, when he began the flight back to his original point of departure, the airplane had about 3/4 tank of fuel remaining, and a headwind was present. About 10 to 15 nautical miles from the original departure airport, the fuel supply was exhausted, and the student pilot made a forced landing in a field. During the forced landing, the right wing struck a tree and was substantially damaged. The student pilot did not report any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that while on a cross-country flight, the weather deteriorated at the destination airport. He decided to complete a touch-and-go landing at an airport along the route and then return to the departure airport. The student pilot further reported that when he began the flight back to his original point of departure, the airplane had about ¾ tank of fuel remaining and a headwind was present. About 10 to 15 nautical miles from the original departure airport, the fuel supply was exhausted and the student pilot made a forced landing in a field. During the forced landing, the right wing struck a tree and was substantially damaged. The student pilot did not report any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N992CT
- Reported as
- Diamond Aircraft Ind DA-20 (C-1)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- C0092
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 4,720.7
- Engine
- Continental IO-240-B, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 24, 2016
- Departed
- CDC · Cedar City, UT
- Destination
- U77 · Spanish Fork, UT
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Handheld GPS, Stall warning system
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 50 total · 47 in this make and model · 21 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- KPVU, 20 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 6, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 446 KB in all.
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 N992CT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.