- Date
- September 20, 1990, 19:15 local (Sep 21, 1990, 02:15 UTC)
- Place
- Palm Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N10797Cessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900920041249A
- Case key
- 26926
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. Contributing factors related to the pilot's improper preflight preparation, and his lack of total experience.
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 planned to practice flying using instruments, and he had a safety pilot accompany him. During the flight all engine power was lost and the pilot attempted to land at a nearby airport. The pilot reported that he did not have sufficient altitude to make the airport, so he landed nearby on dessert terrain. Upon touchdown the airplane collided with a berm. The plot subsequently acknowledged that the power loss occurred as a result of 'fuel starvation.' The pilot had 57 hours of flight time in the Cessna airplane, and he had been a certificated private pilot for two months.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N10797
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15075048
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Precision Techniques
- Departed
- RAL · Riverside, CA
- Destination
- PSP · Palm Springs, CA
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 95 total · 57 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 0° at 10 knots
- 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 N10797 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.