- Date
- July 1, 1989, 20:50 local (Jul 2, 1989, 03:50 UTC)
- Place
- Kelseyville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5712ECessna 150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890701019549A
- Case key
- 26438
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
Inadequate preflight planning/preparations and the improper fuel consumption calculations by the pilot.
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
The pilot said he checked the fuel tanks by dipping them and visually looking in them. He determined he had 6 to 7 gallons, that he thought would be good for approximately an hour or more. The airplane departed on the flight at 2008 PDT and crashed at 2050 PDT. The pilot said the engine started to sputter and he was unable to correct the engine problem so he made a forced landing in a pasture. During the rollout, the left wing impacted a fence post. Post accident inspection indicated no fuel in the right fuel tank and approximately 2 gallons of fuel in the left fuel tank. A conservation fuel consumption figure for this type flight is five gph according to the flight manual. The flight manual also lists the last 3 to 3.5 gallons of fuel as unusable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5712E
- Reported as
- Cessna 150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17212
- Airframe hours
- 4,399
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Tom Watson
- Registered owner
- Wasson, Thomas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 20, 1989 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- 1O2 · Lakeport, CA
- Destination
- 1O2
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
- 30
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 412 total · 178 in this make and model · 332 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.