- Date
- May 24, 1991, 15:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- El Cerrito, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6003GCessna 150K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910524017159A
- Case key
- 27002
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 due to improper preflight planning and inaccurate fuel consumption calculations. Factors related to the accident were the failure of the pilot to choose a proper emergency landing site and/or deviate from a straight course during the emergency descent.
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 contacted approach control with an emergency call stating that his aircraft's engine had lost power. He said that he thought a bird had struck his aircraft. He got the engine re-started, but it would not maintain adequate power to sustain flight. The engine had a second loss of power. The pilot entered a power off forced landing. According to a witness flying another airplane and observing the disabled aircraft, the pilot of the disabled aircraft flew straight into an electrical power transformer without deviating from his heading. On scene examination revealed that the aircraft's fuel tanks contained a total of about 7/8 gallon of fuel. There was no evidence of fuel spillage or lack of integrity in the fuel system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6003G
- Reported as
- Cessna 150K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 150 71503
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- The Flying Club, Inc
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- P06 · Bullhead, AZ
- Destination
- SNA · Santa Ana, 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 168 total · 60 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.