- Date
- January 31, 1998, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Valkaria, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6261ECessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 13, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980131002459A
- Case key
- 38448
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 inadequate preflight, and subsequent loss of engine power, due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted in a forced landing and impact with trees.
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 was on a short flight to buy fuel at Valkaria. The pilot reported that at a cruise altitude of about 1,500 feet, the engine began to sputter. He said that before he departed, '...my fuel indicators were showing, left tank between 1/2-1/4 and right just above 1/4 tank...I did not dip my tanks.' About 6 miles from the destination airport, the airplane's engine 'sputtered.' He switched to the left tank, the right tank, then back to both tanks. He tried both magnetos, and the problem did not clear. The engine then was 'windmilling.' The pilot elected to make a forced landing in a field, and the airplane struck a tree with the left wing. Examination of the airplane revealed, no fuel in either tank. Examination of the engine did not reveal any discrepancies.
Factual narrative
On January 31, 1998, about 1530 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172, N6261E, owned by a private individual, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight, impacted with a tree during a forced landing near Valkaria, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot was not injured. The flight had originated from Sebastian, Florida, at 1515.
The pilot was on a short flight to buy fuel at Valkaria. At a cruise altitude of about 1,500 feet, the pilot reported that the engine began to sputter. He said that before he departed, "...my fuel indicators were showing, left tank between 1/2-1/4 and right just above 1/4 tank...I did not dip my tanks." About 6 miles from the destination airport the airplane's engine "sputtered." He switched to the left tank, the right tank, then back to both tanks. He tried both magnetos and the problem did not clear. The engine then was "windmilling." He could not maintain altitude so elected to make a forced landing in a field, and struck a tree with the left wing.
Examination of the wreckage revealed, no fuel in either tank. Examination of the engine did not reveal any discrepancies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6261E
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46361
- Airframe hours
- 5,154
- Engine
- Continental O-300-A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Howard A. Gibson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 1997 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- X26 · Sabastian, FL
- Destination
- X59
- Airport
- X59 · Valkaria, runway 9, 4,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Invalid Medical for flight
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 182 total · 124 in this make and model · 182 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MLB, 10 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 N6261E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.