- Date
- October 7, 2019, 19:30 local (Oct 8, 2019, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fallon, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N50618Cessna 150
- Defining event
- Approach: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20191007018999A
- Case key
- 100407
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 preflight fuel planning and quantity inspection, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a total loss of engine power, a forced landing on unsuitable terrain, and a subsequent nose-over.
Findings · 4
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 the preflight inspection, the fuel gauges indicated that each tank was half full. The pilot did not visually inspect the fuel tanks to verify the fuel gauges' indicated reading. After a 40-minute local flight, the engine lost power as the pilot was turning the airplane onto the base leg of the airport traffic pattern. The pilot recalled that the fuel gauge indicated that 1/4 tank of fuel remained. He made a forced landing in a flat attitude in a desert. The nose landing gear dug into the soft, dry surface, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He added that the accident could have been prevented if he had visually inspected the fuel tanks using a fuel stick to assess the fuel quantity.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the preflight inspection, the fuel gauges indicated that each tank was half-full. The pilot did not visually inspect the fuel tanks to verify the fuel gauge's indicated reading. After a 40-minute local flight, the engine lost power during the right turn to the base leg of the airport traffic pattern. The pilot recalled that airplane's fuel gauge indicated that ¼ of the fuel capacity remained. He forced landed in a "flat" attitude on the desert. The nose landing gear dug into the soft, dry surface and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to horizontal stabilizer and the rudder. Additionally, the pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented by visually inspecting the fuel tanks using a fuel stick to assess the airplane's fuel quantity. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50618
- Reported as
- Cessna 150 (J)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15069437
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,189
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 19, 2019
- Departed
- FLX · Fallon, NV
- Destination
- FLX · Fallon, NV
- Airport
- FLX · Fallon Muni, runway 21, 5,705 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
- Last flight review
- January 8, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 670 total · 630 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KQAV, 5 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 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.
Other investigations on N50618 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.