- Date
- August 5, 2018, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lovelock, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9867XCessna 185
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180805010169A
- Case key
- 98000
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 improper in-flight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a subsequent total loss of engine power.
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 pilot reported that, during cruise flight, he descended the airplane due to strong winds and determined that the airplane had about 10.9 gallons of fuel remaining, which he equated to about 1 hour of flight. He added that, about 6 miles from the destination airport, the airplane "ran out of gas" and that the engine lost power. He performed a forced landing on a field, and, during the landing flare, the left main landing gear impacted a berm near the edge of the field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during cruise flight, he descended the airplane due to "stronger" winds and determined that the airplane had about 10.9 gallons of fuel remaining, which he equated to about one hour of flight. About six miles from the destination airport, the airplane "ran out of gas" and the engine lost power. He performed a forced landing on a field, but the left main landing gear impacted a berm near the edge of the field during the landing flare. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left-wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9867X
- Reported as
- Cessna 185 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-0067
- Built
- 1961
- Engine
- Continental IO 520 D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 2018 · 4,266 hours before
- Departed
- 3U2 · Yellow Pine, ID
- Destination
- Lovelock, NV
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 77
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 26, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 967 total · 234 in this make and model · 1,000 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- KLOL, 6 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 28, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB 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.