- Date
- November 20, 2001, 17:25 local (22:25 UTC)
- Place
- Stuart, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N590AMCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20011120038619A
- Case key
- 53823
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 fuel consumption calculations resulting in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and collision with trees during a forced landing.
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 pilot stated that prior to departure she fueled the airplane herself. She then departed Stuart and flew to Melbourne, Florida, and then returned to Stuart. The traffic pattern at Stuart was very busy, so she went to the practice area. She then made contact with the Stuart Control Tower and was cleared to enter right base for runway 7. She was about 8 miles from the airport, at 2,500 feet, and the engine was operating at 2,300 rpm. The engine then quit and she made a forced landing in a orange grove. Postcrash examination of the airplane by FAA inspectors showed the fuel selector was on, the right fuel tank was empty, and the left fuel tank contained 1.5 to 2 gallons of fuel. There was no evidence of fuel leakage from the airplane after the accident or in-flight prior to the accident. The engine tachometer showed the airplane had operated 3.1 flight hours since the pilot took the airplane. After the airplane was recovered, FAA inspectors observed company maintenance personnel attach a fuel supply to the engine and then start and operate the engine with no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction. The Pilot Operating Handbook for the Cessna 150 shows the airplane has 3.5 gallons of unusable fuel.
Factual narrative
On November 20, 2001, about 1725 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150M, N590AM, registered to Ameens Leasing Corporation, collided with trees while making a forced landing following loss of engine power near Stuart, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage and the student pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Stuart, the same day, about 1420.
The student pilot stated that prior to departure she fueled the airplane herself. She then departed Stuart and flew to Melbourne, Florida, and then returned to Stuart. The traffic pattern at Stuart was very busy, so she went to the practice area. She then made contact with the Stuart Control Tower and was cleared to enter right base for runway 7. She was about 8 miles from the airport, at 2,500 feet, and the engine was operating at 2,300 rpm. The engine then quit and she made a forced landing in a orange grove.
Postcrash examination of the airplane by FAA inspectors showed the fuel selector was on, the right fuel tank was empty, and the left fuel tank contained 1.5 to 2 gallons of fuel. There was no evidence of fuel leakage from the airplane after the accident or in-flight prior to the accident. The engine tachometer showed the airplane had operated 3.1 flight hours since the pilot took the airplane. After the airplane was recovered, FAA inspectors observed company maintenance personnel attach a fuel supply to the engine and then start and operate the engine with no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction.
The Pilot Operating Handbook for the Cessna 150 shows the airplane has 3.5 gallons of unusable fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N590AM
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 150-76540
- Airframe hours
- 9,231
- Engines
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Florida Pilot School, Inc.
- Registered owner
- APA Enterprises Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 4, 2001 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- SUA · Stuart, FL
- Destination
- SUA · Stuart, FL
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
- 26
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 75 total · 14 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- SUA, 8 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.