- Date
- August 30, 1990, 18:24 local (Aug 31, 1990, 01:24 UTC)
- Place
- Reno, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9021TCessna 182C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900830037539A
- Case key
- 26914
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 and 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
The pilot departed on the accident flight with 55 gallons of fuel. The planned flight time to the destination airport was 3.2 hours. The pilot reported that he proceeded towards the destination airport. When the airplane was 12 miles north of Reno cannon intl airport the airplane sustained a total power loss due to fuel exhaustion. The airplane records and the hobbsmeter indicate the airplane had operated 4.5 hours. The fuel consumption calculations based on the pilot's fuel capacity statement disclosed that the airplane would have sustained total fuel exhaustion in about 4.4 hours +/- 0.3 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9021T
- Reported as
- Cessna 182C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18252901
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Tango Air Inc.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- 3S2 · Aurora, OR
- Destination
- TRK · Truckee, CA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
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
- 33
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 190 total · 190 in this make and model · 19 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- RNO, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.