- Date
- April 6, 1997, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N50918Cessna 150J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970406046229A
- Case key
- 38248
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 student pilot's inadequate preflight planning and improper fuel consumption calculations which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the 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 was on a solo cross-country flight. He stated that he experienced a loss of engine power at 1800 feet while approaching Kendall-Tamiami Airport for landing. He made a distress call and selected a forced landing area. The pilot made a forced landing on a dirt trail. The nose gear collapsed on landing roll out in soft terrain and the airplane spun around 180 degrees. Examination of the aircraft revealed that no useable fuel was found in the aircraft tanks or fuel system.
Factual narrative
On April 6, 1997, about 1500 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150J, N50918, registered to Kirk Enterprises, Inc., operated by ADF Airways Corp., while on a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed during a forced landing in the vicinity of Kendall-Tamiami Airport, Miami, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The student pilot reported minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The flight originated from La Belle, Florida, about 1 hour 30 minutes before the accident.
The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight from Miami to Fort Pierce, Florida, with a scheduled fuel stop at La Belle before returning to Miami. The pilot stated he purchased 8.3 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel, and estimated that he had 10.0 total gallons of fuel on board the airplane when he departed for Miami. The pilot experienced a loss of engine power at 1,800 feet in the vicinity of Kendall-Tamiami Airport. The pilot made a distress call, selected a forced landing area, and landed on a dirt trail. The nose gear collapsed on landing rollout in nonsuitable soft terrain and the airplane spun around 180 degrees.
Examination of the aircraft revealed that no useable fuel was found in the aircraft tanks or fuel system. The pilot stated to the FAA inspector that he ran out of fuel. He also stated in the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report that his fuel/distance/time calculations were incorrect and poor flight planning on his part contributed to this accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50918
- Reported as
- Cessna 150J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15069641
- Airframe hours
- 4,376
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Adf Airways Corporation
- Registered owner
- Kirk Enterprises Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 1997
- Departed
- X14 · La Belle, FL
- Destination
- TMB
- 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 45 total · 15 in this make and model · 12 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TMB, 4 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.
Other investigations on N50918 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.