- Date
- October 19, 1992, 20:39 local (Oct 20, 1992, 00:39 UTC)
- Place
- Morgantown, WV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3107TCessna 177
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921019042479A
- Case key
- 37264
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 preflight and planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a forced landing on a highway.
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 departed with approximately two hours of fuel on board the airplane. At 2.3 hour into the flight and about 7 miles from the destination airport the engine lost total power and the pilot was forced to land the airplane on a highway. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks at the crash site. An engine run revealed no discrepancies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3107T
- Reported as
- Cessna 177
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17700407
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fred Morgan
- Registered owner
- Fred Morgan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- W18 · Laurel, MD
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 360 total · 250 in this make and model · 276 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 270° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MGW, 1 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 N3107T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.