- Date
- December 26, 1992, 17:26 local (23:26 UTC)
- Place
- Bowling Green, KY
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2325YCessna 177
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921226051719A
- Case key
- 37287
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 inflight planning and decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power.
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
Four hours into a flight from greenwood, Illinois to nashville, Tennessee, the pilot noted that the airplane's fuel gauges showed the tanks with 1/4 fuel remaining. He elected to divert to Bowling Green, Kentucky and refuel. While on down wind for landing at the airport the airplane's engine lost total power. The pilot elected to land in a field approximately one quarter of a mile short of the runway. The FAA found no fuel in the airplane's tanks when they examined the wreckage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2325Y
- Reported as
- Cessna 177
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17700125
- Airframe hours
- 4,261
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pettygrove, Jay J.
- Registered owner
- Pettygrove, Jay J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 7, 1992 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- 10C · Greenwood, IL
- Destination
- BNA · Nashville, TN
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BWG, 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 N2325Y · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.