- Date
- March 23, 1994, 16:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Amherst, MA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6460LCessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 18, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940323006529A
- Case key
- 38744
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 student pilot's inadvertently becoming lost, and the subsequent precautionary landing in a field, resulting in a collision with soft terrain and nose over.
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 student pilot was conducting a solo cross country instructional flight. He reported that he 'became lost.' He was unable to determine his position, and he was unsuccessful in contacting ATC for assistance. When the airplane fuel supply became low, he initiated a precautionary landing in a field. During the landing roll, the nose wheel encountered soft terrain, and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On Wednesday, March 23, 1994, at 1620 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N646OL, sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing in a field in Amherst, Massachusetts. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot was conducting a solo cross country flight from Manchester, New Hampshire to Schenectady, New York. He stated that he "became lost and disorientated." He also stated that he was "unable to raise anyone on [the] radio."
He became concerned that he would exhaust the airplane fuel supply, so he elected to perform a precautionary landing in a field. During the landing roll, the nose wheel collided with soft terrain, and the airplane nosed over and damaged the engine fire wall and empennage.
Mr. Joseph S. Santos, Airworthiness Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, stated in his report:
According to the student pilot he became lost enroute and when he looked at the fuel gages he thought he was running out of fuel. As a result he made a precautionary landing. On the scene inspection of the aircraft did not reveal any evidence of any airframe or powerplant malfunc- tion.
At the time of the accident, the student pilot had a total of 74 hours flight time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6460L
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284410
- Airframe hours
- 5,996
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richmor Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 5, 1994 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- MHT · Manchester, NH
- Destination
- SCH · Schenectady, NY
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 74 total · 74 in this make and model · 15 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.