- Date
- August 30, 1989, 17:40 local (Aug 31, 1989, 00:40 UTC)
- Place
- Bullhead City, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6270ECessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890830032889A
- Case key
- 26490
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
Failure of the pilot to adequately perform inflight fuel consumption calculations to ensure the adequacy of the fuel supply for the flight's completion. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the pilot to consider the impact of the stronger than anticipated headwind component to the fuel requirements for the flight.
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 airport UNICOM operator reported that the he was in radio contact with the pilot. The operator stated that the pilot reported he was out of fuel and executing an emergency landing about 10 miles north of the airport. The pilot said that he departed btf with 38 gallons of usable fuel on board for the 350 NM trip, which he reportedly had made many times before. The pilot said that the typical enroute time for the trip was 3.5 to 4.0 hours with a fuel consumption of 24 to 28 gallons. After takeoff, the pilot changed the fuel selector to the left tank and ran it dry, a procedure he typically used for this trip. The pilot noted that he encountered headwinds enroute and the left tank went dry earlier than normal, however, 'the early switch did not cause any concern.' At the time of the accident, the estimated elapsed time enroute was four hours and forty minutes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6270E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46370
- Engine
- Continental O-300-A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Central Alarm, Inc.
- Departed
- BTF · Bountiful, UT
- Destination
- P06 · Bullhead City, AZ
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 360 total · 213 in this make and model · 325 as pilot in command · 44 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.