- Date
- July 5, 2008, 18:10 local (Jul 6, 2008, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Pomona, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8881UCessna 172F
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080705843729A
- Case key
- 68369
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
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and his failure to refuel the airplane.
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 said that when he started his cross-country flight, 2.4 hours had been flown by the airplane since the fuel tanks had been topped off. His first leg was 1.1 hours in length; he landed and spent approximately 1.5 hours on the ground. He was approximately 1.1 hours into his return flight, turning base for landing, when the engine lost power. He performed a forced landing to a large parking lot and impacted the fence on its perimeter during landing roll. The airplane's right wing lift strut was bent, and the right wing's leading edge was wrinkled and bent. No fuel was found in the airplane's fuel tanks.
Factual narrative
The pilot said that when he started his cross-country flight, 2.4 hours had been flown by the airplane since the fuel tanks had been topped off. His first leg was 1.1 hours in length; he landed and spent approximately 1.5 hours on the ground. He was approximately 1.1 hours into his return flight, turning base for landing, when the engine lost power. He performed a forced landing to a large parking lot and impacted the fence on its perimeter during landing roll. The airplane's right wing lift strut was bent, and the right wing's leading edge was wrinkled and bent. No fuel was found in the airplane's fuel tanks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8881U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17252799
- Engine
- Continental O-300-C, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Blue Diamond Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SEE · El Cajon, CA
- Destination
- POC · Pomona, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 142 total · 142 in this make and model · 72 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- CNO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.