- Date
- May 28, 1990, 12:58 local (19:58 UTC)
- Place
- Glendale, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3888SCessna 172E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900528017559A
- Case key
- 26824
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. Resulting from the pilot's failure to perform refueling.
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 observing that the right fuel gauge indicated empty and the left fuel gauge indicated one quarter full, the pilot took off for a short flight to his destination airport. As he neared his destination the engine failed and he entered a forced landing to a road in the area. The aircraft stalled during the landing flare and collided with the ground. An examination of the fuel system after the accident disclosed one inch of fuel in each tank and no evidence of ruptures in the system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3888S
- Reported as
- Cessna 172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17251088
- Engine
- Continental O300D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fant, Elvin T. Sr.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- FFZ · Mesa, 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 621 total · 339 in this make and model · 482 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
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 N3888S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.