- Date
- March 22, 2013, 14:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- Temecula, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5931RCessna 172G
- Defining event
- Approach: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130322007259A
- Case key
- 86503
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 fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot, the airplane lost engine power as it approached the destination airport. The pilot attempted to restart the engine unsuccessfully and performed a forced landing to a nearby street. During the landing roll, the airplane hit a chain link fence and sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall, undercarriage, and the tail. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel tanks remained intact and were not breached and that both tanks contained a total of 1.5 gallons of fuel. The pilot operating handbook identifies 3.0 gallons as unusable. There was no evidence of preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, the airplane lost engine power as he approached the destination airport. The pilot attempted to restart the engine unsuccessfully and performed a forced landing to a nearby street. During the landing roll, the airplane hit a chain link fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall, undercarriage, and the tail. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel tanks remained intact and were not breached, and that both tanks contained a total of 1.5 gallons of fuel. The Cessna pilot operating handbook identifies 3.0 gallons as unusable. There was no evidence of preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5931R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17253600
- Airframe hours
- 6,461
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-300 SER, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Buehman John R
- Registered owner
- Buehman John R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 14, 2013 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- L18 · Fallbrook, CA
- Destination
- F70 · Murrieta, CA
- Airport
- F70 · French Valley 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
- 66
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 27, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 658 total · 545 in this make and model · 607 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- NFG, 20 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 22, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 891 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.