- Date
- April 20, 2007, 17:10 local (22:10 UTC)
- Place
- Levelland, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3523JCessna 150E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20070420004529A
- Case key
- 65629
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 in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of power. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
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 stated that on the return leg of the cross-country instructional flight at 5,500 feet mean sea level and 10 nautical miles from her destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot reported that she then made a forced landing to a plowed field. A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector, who traveled to the accident site, reported that when both of the airplane's wing tanks were inspected for fuel, less than one gallon of fuel was drained from each tank. The inspector stated that the firewall and engine mount had sustained substantial damage, the nose landing gear had separated, and that both main landing gear structures were bent aft. The inspector also revealed that the pilot had landed across the rows of the plowed field.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that on the return leg of the cross-country instructional flight at 5,500 feet mean sea level and 10 nautical miles from her destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot reported that she then made a forced landing to a plowed field. A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector, who traveled to the accident site, reported that when both of the airplane's wing tanks were inspected for fuel, less than one gallon of fuel was drained from each tank. The inspector stated that the firewall and engine mount had sustained substantial damage, the nose landing gear had separated, and that both main landing gear structures were bent aft. The inspector also revealed that the pilot had landed across the rows of the plowed field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3523J
- Reported as
- Cessna 150E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15061223
- Engine
- Continental O-200, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Levelland Aviation
- Registered owner
- Steven C. Bernstein
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- E52 · Vega, TX
- Destination
- LLN · Levelland, TX
- Airport
- LLN · Levelland Municipal Airport
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 97 total · 92 in this make and model · 69 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 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.