# NTSB LAX03LA184: Cessna 172K, N78690, Early, TX, June 8, 2003 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 8, 2003, 05:15 local (10:15 UTC) - Place: Early, TX - Coordinates: 31.693611, -98.957496 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.6936&lon=-98.9575&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 28, 2004 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 57169 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX03LA184 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/57169/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX03LA184 ## Probable cause The student pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision, which resulted in a loss of engine power while on approach to land, and subsequent off-airport landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of engine power(total) - nonmechanical, approach - vfr pattern - final approach - fluid,fuel - exhaustion (cause) - in-flight planning/decision - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - Forced landing, emergency descent/landing - In flight collision with object, emergency descent/landing - object - tree(s) ## Analysis The student pilot reported he was on a cross country flight with a passenger, and was on approach to land at an airport when the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The airport was about a mile away, and he elected to make a forced landing on a dirt road. The airplane collided with trees during the landing, and sustained structural damage. ## Factual narrative On June 8, 2003, about 0515 central daylight time, a Cessna 172K, N78690, experienced a loss of engine power and collided with terrain while making a forced landing on a dirt road in Early, Texas. Stratos Aviation, Inc., was operating the rental airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Bruce Field Airport, Ballinger, Texas, at an undetermined time. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed. The wreckage was at 31 degrees 46.61 minutes north latitude and 98 degrees 57.27 minutes west longitude. In a written statement, the pilot reported that he departed Ballinger en route to the northeast with a planned destination of Abilene Regional Airport, Abilene, Texas. He noted clouds moving toward him from a southerly direction and opted to land at Brownwood Regional Airport, Brownwood, Texas, where he had spotted the airport's rotating beacon. On final approach, about ¼ mile from the end of the runway, the engine stopped. He selected a dirt road to execute a forced landing and touched down without injury. The pilot noted that the accident could have been prevented if he had done better fuel consumption calculations with the incorporation of weather and wind changes. In a telephone conversation with a Safety Board investigator, a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper recalled visiting the accident site and talking with the pilot shortly after the accident occurred. The pilot reported that while flying en route from Lubbock International Airport to Possum Kingdom Airport, the wind had blown him off course. He thought the weather was becoming unfavorable and opted to land at Bruce Field Airport, where he positioned the airplane in a hangar while adverse weather conditions passed. The pilot further told the Trooper that after the unfavorable weather conditions passed, he departed Bruce Field Airport with a planned destination of Abilene Regional Airport. While en route, the airplane became off course again, and he realized that the airplane's fuel supply was diminishing. He noticed a rotating beacon at an airfield in the distance (Brownwood Regional Airport), and decided to land at the airfield in an effort to refuel the airplane. While approaching the airport, the engine lost power .2 miles from the runway, and he attempted to land the airplane on a dirt road. The airplane's wing tip impacted trees and spun the airplane into a ditch. The Trooper added that while he was at the accident site, he saw that both airplane wing tips were damaged, the left wing was buckled, and the engine was displaced. The airplane was placed on a trailer for the purpose of transporting it from the accident site to the airport. While on the trailer, the airplane encountered high winds and was blown off the trailer's platform. The Abilene Regional Airport is located 46.7 nautical miles from Bruce Field Airport on a course of 019 degrees. Brownwood Regional Airport is located 52.6 nautical miles from Bruce Field Airport on a course of 082 degrees. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N78690](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N78690-2017-03-21), registration cancelled 2017-03-21, S/N 17257720, built 1968 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 172K - Registry model: [Cessna 172K](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172k) (registry code 2072430) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17257720 - Engines: Lycoming O-320-E2D 150 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Stratos Aviation, Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal - Departed: E30, Ballinger, TX - Destination: BWD, Brownwood, TX - Airport: BWD, Brownwood Regional Airport ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 40; injuries: none; student; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 30° at 7 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 5,000 ft broken - Temperature: 73 °F, dew point 63 °F - Altimeter: 29.93 inHg - Observed at: BWD, 1 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20030608013429A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030608013429A), Jun 8, 2003: Cessna 172K, Brownwood, TX, Substantial damage. (-23) On June 8, 2003, at 0500 CDT, a C-172-K, N78690, registered to stratos aviation inc., rr 3 box 49, lubbock, Texas 794039712, lost power during an… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.