- Date
- October 9, 1994, 11:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Rochester, MA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N53074Cessna 185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 23, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941009034219A
- Case key
- 38878
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 inadeqaute calculation of fuel and inadeqaute inflight 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
The pilot was approaching the pond for a landing in the float-equipped airplane, when the engine suddenly quit. The pilot was unable to glide to the pond, and the airplane impacted trees during the forced landing. The FAA inspector examined the airplane and found 1 gallon of fuel in the left tank and no fuel in the right tank. The engine was placed in a test stand and started. The FAA inspector stated in his report: 'the engine was started and ran for approximately 15 minutes at various power settings...with no apparent malfunctions.'
Factual narrative
On Saturday, October 9, 1994, at 1150 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 185F, N53074, a float-equipped airplane, registered to and piloted by Walter P. Faria, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing in Rochester, Massachusetts. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The airplane departed Nantucket Bay, Massachusetts, destined for a pond in Rochester. The pilot stated that there were 18 gallons of fuel on the airplane prior to departure. As he was approaching the pond for a VFR landing, the engine quit. He was unable to glide the airplane to the pond, so he attempted to land in a cranberry bog. The airplane struck trees during the forced landing.
In his report, the pilot stated:
[After the accident] I went back to the accident scene and watched as approximately 18 gallons of gasoline was taken from the plane.
An FAA Inspector examined the wreckage and observed that there was no fuel in the right tank and 1 gallon in the left tank.
On October 20, 1994, the engine was installed on a test stand and started under the supervision of the FAA Inspector. In his report, the inspector stated:
The engine was started and ran for approximately 15 minutes at various power settings ranging from 500 RPM's to 2400 RPM's with no apparent malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53074
- Reported as
- Cessna 185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502359
- Airframe hours
- 1,897
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Walter P. Faria
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 3, 1993 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Nantucket, MA
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 300 in this make and model · 50 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.