- Date
- November 26, 1998, 16:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- New Brockton, AL
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3060XCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981126032489A
- Case key
- 45381
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 failure to perform fuel consumption calculations for the flight, resulting in a total power failure due to fuel exhaustion, and subsequent forced landing in soft terrain. Contributing factors in this accident were inadequate pre-flight planning and preparation.
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 said that when he arrived at the airplane, he checked the fuel, and found 'around 12 or 13 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off and flew for 'around 30 minutes.' He returned to the airport, landed and checked his fuel before taking off again. This time when he checked fuel he said there was 'around 8 to 9 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off again with a different passenger, and flew for 'around 15 minutes.' Again he returned to the airport, landed, and checked his fuel. This time he said, '...the fuel tanks had a little more than quarter of tank of fuel (between 5 to 6 gallons.' He took off again with a third passenger, and was heading west, when he said 'the engine quite running.' He said, '...I tried to restart the engine and failed. I then scanned the area for a safe place to land...I found a field that was about 2 miles from were the engine quit. By the time I got to the field I was at tree top level...the field was just plowed, when the wheels touched down the nose gear stuck in the dirt and caused the airplane to flip over.' According to the FAA the pilot received the airplane with the tank 1/2 full of fuel, and could not purchase fuel, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. He flew some passengers around the local area for an unknown number of hours, and on the third flight, the airplane's engine failed. He completed a forced landing in a field and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the wreckage revealed no fuel in either of the airplane's fuel tanks or on the ground. The fuel tanks and fuel lines were not breached. The FAA report stated that the pilot, '...miscalculated his fuel causing the engine to stop and necessitating an emergency landing in a field.'
Factual narrative
On November 26, 1998, about 1615 central standard time, a Cessna 150F, N3060X, registered to a private individual, nosed over during a forced landing, near New Brockton, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot reported minor injuries, and one passenger reported no injuries. The flight originated at 1530, from Enterprise, Alabama.
The pilot said that when he arrived at the airplane, he checked the fuel, and found "around 12 or 13 gallons" of fuel in the tanks. He took off and flew for "around 30 minutes." He returned to the airport, landed and checked his fuel before taking off again. This time when he checked fuel he said there was "around 8 to 9 gallons" of fuel in the tanks. He took off again with a different passenger, and flew for "around 15 minutes." Again he returned to the airport, landed, and checked his fuel. This time he said, "...the fuel tanks had a little more than quarter of tank of fuel (between 5 to 6 gallons." He took off again with a third passenger, and was heading west, when he said "the engine quit running." He said, "...I tried to restart the engine and failed. I then scanned the area for a safe place to land...I found a field that was about 2 miles from were the engine quit. By the time I got to the field I was at tree top level...the field was just plowed, when the wheels touched down the nose gear stuck in the dirt and caused the airplane to flip over."
According to the FAA, the pilot received the airplane with the tank 1/2 full of fuel, and could not purchase fuel, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. He flew some passengers around the local area for an unknown number of hours, and on the third flight, the airplane's engine failed. He completed a forced landing in a field and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the wreckage revealed no fuel in either of the airplane's fuel tanks or on the ground. The fuel tanks and fuel lines were not breached. The FAA report stated that the pilot, "...miscalculated his fuel causing the engine to stop and necessitating an emergency landing in a field."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3060X
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15064460
- Airframe hours
- 6,577
- Engine
- Continental O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bascom H. Knight
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- EDN
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 157 total · 51 in this make and model · 96 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORZ, 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 N3060X · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.