- Date
- May 12, 1991, 14:05 local (18:05 UTC)
- Place
- Sanford, ME
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1745RCessna 185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 37010
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 improper procedure by not placing the fuel selector on the tank with the most fuel, which resulted in fuel starvation and a forced landing in 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 said he had filled the left fuel tank and added 10 gallons to the right fuel tank for a flight he estimated to be about 1 hour and 50 minutes in duration. About 40 miles from his destination the pilot thought the fuel gages were reading too low. He descended, banked the airplane to the left in an attempt to check fuel in the right tank. The engine quit and the pilot was too low to restart the engine. He elected to make a forced landing into trees. The FAA examined the wreckage and found approximately 18 gallons of fuel in the left tank and found the right tank empty.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1745R
- Reported as
- Cessna 185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502465
- Engine
- Continental IO-560, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- George Grinnall
- Registered owner
- James K. Fiske
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- GVE · Greenville, ME
- Destination
- NONE · Derry, NH
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
- 81
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 7,000 total · 500 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F