- Date
- March 19, 1987, 08:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lopez Island, WA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N64728Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 2, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870319006499A
- Case key
- 40599
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
During cruise the acft engine quit due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot neglected to visually check the fuel tanks prior to departure, but rather relied on fuel gauges and his own estimation that enough fuel would be remaining to complete the flight. During forced landing onto a field a cow crossed the landing area. The pilot raised the nose of the aircraft in order to avoid striking the cow. The acft then hit the ground nose first.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64728
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17275612
- Airframe hours
- 2,837
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Peter Cleland
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 14, 1987 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- 76S · Oak Harbor, WA
- Destination
- S19 · Friday Harbor, WA
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
- 45
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,099 total · 492 in this make and model · 5,780 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 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.