- Date
- April 18, 1997, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ormond Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N63666Cessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970418006189A
- Case key
- 38264
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 flight crew's improper planning/decision, which resulted in loss of engine power due to 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
While on a practice instrument approach, 3 to 4 miles north of the airport, at about 700 feet, the engine lost power. Subsequently, during a forced landing, the aircraft hit trees and was damaged. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed no evidence of fuel leaks from the aircraft before or after the accident. The right fuel tank contained 1 quart of fuel, and the left tank contained 2 quarts of fuel. The aircraft had flown 4.2 flight hours since it was last refueled.
Factual narrative
On April 18, 1997, about 1700 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N63666, registered to Ormond Beach Aviation, crashed while making a forced landing following loss of engine power at Ormond Beach, Florida, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the commercial-rated flight instructor and private-rated dual student were not injured. The flight originated from Ormond Beach, the same day, about 1610.
The flight instructor stated that while on a practice instrument approach, about 3-4 miles north of the airport at about 700 feet, the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. They were unable to make it to the airport, and while making a forced landing in a field collided with trees.
The operator reported that the undamaged right fuel tank contained 1 quart of fuel after the accident and the undamaged left tank contained 2 quarts. The aircraft had been refueled on the morning of April 18, 1997, and had flown 4.2 flight hours since the last refueling until the engine failure and accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N63666
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15077467
- Airframe hours
- 7,401
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ormond Beach Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 1997 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- ORM
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
- 24
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 750 total · 300 in this make and model · 690 as pilot in command · 320 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAB, 12 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 N63666 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.