- Date
- August 1, 2000, 12:53 local (19:53 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan Hill, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N60764Cessna 150J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000801012549A
- Case key
- 49923
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
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to verify the fuel supply onboard the airplane.
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
Near the end of a cross-country flight, the student pilot performed an off-airport emergency landing 3 miles from his intended destination following loss of engine power. During the landing, the airplane collided with ground obstructions. The pilot later acknowledged that he exhausted the aircraft's fuel supply. He said that a fueler was supposed to have filled the aircraft to capacity prior to his departure but did not. During his preflight inspection of the aircraft the pilot did not remove the fuel caps and visually check that the tanks were full.
Factual narrative
On August 1, 2000, at 1253 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150J, N60764, lost engine power and collided with ground obstructions during an off-airport forced landing 3 miles northeast of Morgan Hill, California. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was seriously injured. The aircraft, operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91, received substantial damage. The flight departed Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Fresno, California, at an unknown time, and was scheduled to terminate at South County Airport of Santa Clara, San Martin, California. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the instructional flight and no flight plan was filed.
According to an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) San Jose (California) Flight Standards District Office, the pilot acknowledged in an interview that he ran out of fuel. The accident location was about 3 miles from his intended destination. The pilot said that a fueler was supposed to have filled the aircraft to capacity before his departure but evidently did not. During his preflight inspection of the aircraft the pilot did not remove the fuel caps and visually check that the tanks were full.
The Safety Board mailed an NTSB form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report on August 1, 2000, to the pilot's FAA address of record. A follow-up letter and copy of the form were sent August 25, 2000. Neither form was returned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60764
- Reported as
- Cessna 150J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15070559
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Anthony J. Chiminello
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- FAT · Fresno, CA
- Destination
- Q99 · San Martin, CA
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 30 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 181 °F, dew point 145 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SJC, 24 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.