- Date
- August 9, 2008, 20:30 local (Aug 10, 2008, 03:30 UTC)
- Place
- Oceanside, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N46974Cessna 152
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080809848539A
- Case key
- 68665
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 that was caused by the pilot's inadequate fuel consumption calculations and failure to refuel the airplane en route.
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 and pilot-rated passenger rented the airplane for a personal cross-country flight to build flight time. The trip consisted of a 261-nautical mile (nm) leg, a refueling stop, and a 271-nm leg. After completing the first leg, the airplane was refueled with 25 gallons of aviation fuel. During the second leg, as the airplane reached a position about 10 nm from the destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot restarted the engine, and it ran for a few minutes before losing power again. The pilot was unfamiliar with the area and did not see the destination airport until the airplane was directly over the airport. He realized the airplane was too high and added full flaps and "started to side-slip the airplane to lose our excessive altitude." Initially, the pilot maneuvered the airplane for a landing on runway 06; however, he was still too high, so he executed a 180-degree turn and landed on runway 24. The airplane touched down near the departure end of the runway, overran the pavement, and encountered an embankment. The right wing sustained structural damage. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel examined the airplane and reported that the fuel tanks were intact, the left wing fuel tank was dry, and the right wing fuel tank contained about 0.5 gallons of fuel. The fuel capacity of the airplane was 26 gallons, with 24.5 gallons of usable fuel.
Factual narrative
The pilot and pilot-rated passenger rented the airplane for a personal cross-country flight to build flight time. The trip consisted of a 261-nautical mile (nm) leg, a refueling stop, and a 271-nm leg. After completing the first leg, the airplane was refueled with 25 gallons of aviation fuel. During the second leg, as the airplane reached a position about 10 nm from the destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot restarted the engine, and it ran for a few minutes before losing power again. The pilot was unfamiliar with the area and did not see the destination airport until the airplane was directly over the airport. He realized the airplane was "too high" and added full flaps and "started to side-slip the airplane to lose our excessive altitude." Initially, the pilot maneuvered the airplane for a landing on runway 06; however, he was still too high, so he executed a 180-degree turn and landed on runway 24. The airplane touched down near the end of the runway, overran the runway, and encountered an embankment. The right wing sustained structural damage. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel examined the airplane and reported that the fuel tanks were intact, the left wing fuel tank was dry, and the right wing fuel tank contained about 0.5 gallons of fuel. The fuel capacity of the airplane was 26 gallons, with 24.5 gallons of usable fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N46974
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15283154
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- G & B Flight Academy
- Registered owner
- Glenna Leak
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 67L · Mesquite, NV
- Destination
- OKB · Oceanside, CA
- Airport
- OKB · Oceanside Municipal, runway 06, 2,712 × 75 ft, asphalt
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 227 total · 8 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Age
- 29
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 83 total · 17 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 290° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- OKB
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 N46974 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.