- Date
- December 27, 1994, 12:47 local (20:47 UTC)
- Place
- North Las Vegas, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7446GCessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 16, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941227042379A
- Case key
- 29002
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
the pilot's improper in-flight planning and decisions, and his failure to initiate remedial actions in a timely fashion.
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 student said that he became lost while on a cross-country. After flying in excess of 3 hours, he eventually found himself over the las Vegas area. The North Las Vegas air traffic control tower was attempting to help the pilot find the airport when the engine lost power. The aircraft collided with power lines and trees in a residential area as the pilot was attempting a forced landing on a street. The aircraft was examined by FAA inspectors who reported finding only residual fuel in the fuel tanks. The pilot applied for, and was issued, two different combined student and third-class medical certificates on may 24 and July 8, 1994. The first certificate was denied by the FAA for medical reasons, while the second was denied on administrative and legal grounds.
Factual narrative
On December 27, 1994, at 1247 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 150L, N7446G, collided with power lines and trees in a residential area of North Las Vegas, Nevada, following fuel exhaustion. The aircraft was owned and operated by Pacific Air College of Ramona, California, and was on a student solo cross- country instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at Ramona, California, on the day of the accident at 0915 as a cross-country flight to Parker and Needles, California.
In a verbal statement to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors, the student said that he became lost while on the cross-country to Needles. After flying in excess of 3 hours, he eventually found himself over the Las Vegas area. The North Las Vegas Air Traffic Control Tower was attempting to help the pilot find the airport when the engine lost power. The aircraft collided with power lines and trees in a residential area as the pilot was attempting a forced landing on a street.
The aircraft was examined by FAA inspectors who reported finding only residual fuel in the fuel tanks.
Review of the pilot's FAA Airman and Medical records files disclosed that he was issued a combined third-class medical and student pilot certificate on May 24, 1994. That certificate was subsequently denied by the medical review branch of the Aeromedical Certification Division on June 23, 1994, for medical reasons. The pilot applied for, and was issued, a third-class medical and student certificate on July 8, 1994, by a different medical examiner than the one who issued the May 24, 1994, certificate. The second medical was subsequently denied by the Aeromedical Certification Division on administrative and legal grounds.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7446G
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15074658
- Airframe hours
- 4,538
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pacific Air College
- Registered owner
- Mackenzie Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 9, 1994 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- L39 · Ramona, CA
- Destination
- EED · Needles, 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
- 56
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 46 total · 46 in this make and model · 10 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VGT, 5 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.