- Date
- March 7, 1986, 11:13 local (19:13 UTC)
- Place
- Tehachapi, CA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N18174Cessna 177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860307005699A
- Case key
- 25088
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
After determining the takeoff wt of the acft would be over the max gross, the plt asked the operator the day before the accident to drain 20 gals of fuel from the tanks.a plt who flew the acft prior to the accident flt said he flew for about one hour and did not refuel the acft due to a broken gas pit fuel pump. The arpt mgr said he removed 15 gals from the tanks the night before the accident flt, but did not look in the tanks prior to the defueling. On the day of dept the plt preflighted the acft but did not use a dip stick to check the actual fuel quantity. The plt said when the acft master switch was energized the rt fuel gauge read 'almost empty' and the lt gauge 'less than one half.' The plt said he 'assumed the gauges were incorrect' and departed IFR for the destination. About 2.8 hrs into the flt in IFR conditions, the engine quit and the plt made a forced landing on a dirt road. Examination of the acft revealed continuity of the fuel system and no fuel in the acft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18174
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702535
- Airframe hours
- 2,590
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sacramento Aero Services, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 27, 1985 · 149 hours before
- Departed
- Q96 · Sacramento, CA
- Destination
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TSP · Tehachapi
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 247 total · 7 in this make and model · 191 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
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 N18174 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.