- Date
- December 12, 1994, 14:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Pierce, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9436UCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941212041539A
- Case key
- 37707
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-in-command became lost and operated the aircraft until fuel exhaustion.
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 became lost while on a cross country flight. While maneuvering to land at an airport the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion and a forced landing was made in trees to the west of the airport.
Factual narrative
On December 12, 1994, about 1405 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150M, N9436U, registered to Cecilys Flight Center, Inc., crashed into trees while making a forced landing following total loss of engine power near Fort Pierce, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the student pilot received minor injuries. The flight originated at Fort Myers, Florida, on December 12, 1994, about 1200.
The pilot stated he was flying from Fort Myers, Florida, to Melbourne, Florida. En route he drifted south of course. He calculated he had 1/2 hour of fuel remaining and flew over what he thought to be the Vero Beach Airport. He then flew south of the airport with the intentions of contacting the control tower for landing. The engine then lost power and he made a forced landing in trees.
Postcrash examination of the aircraft by an FAA inspector indicated the aircraft had crashed 5 miles west of the St. Lucie County Airport, Fort Pierce, Florida. The aircraft did not contain any usable fuel and that there were no signs of precrash or postcrash fuel system leakage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9436U
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078384
- Airframe hours
- 5,860
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cecilys Flight Center, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 30, 1994 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- FMY · Ft. Myers, FL
- Destination
- MLB · Melbourne, FL
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 57 total · 57 in this make and model · 12 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FPR, 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.