- Date
- November 15, 2022, 13:53, time zone not recorded
- Place
- Kahlotus, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N24227Cessna 180
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20221115017849A
- Case key
- 106349
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 failure to check the fuel selector position before takeoff and his improper fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power. Also causal was the pilot’s loss of airplane control which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 5
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
The pilot reported that, his mechanic had just completed an annual inspection on the airplane, and he was flying it home. While en route at 1,000 ft above ground level, the engine experienced a total loss of power. During the forced landing to a road, the airplane stalled about 40 ft above ground level and impacted the ground hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the upper fuselage. After the accident, the pilot learned that the mechanic had moved the fuel selector from the BOTH position to the LEFT position. The pilot further reported that he did not check the fuel selector position before takeoff. A postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the fuel selector was in the LEFT tank position. The left fuel tank was nearly empty of fuel, and the right fuel tank was full. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and attributed the power loss to fuel starvation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N24227
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31504
- Built
- 1955
- Airframe hours
- 377
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dashiell Ross R
- Registered owner
- Dashiell Ross R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 14, 2022
- Departed
- S61 · S61, ID
- Destination
- Eltopia, WA
- Airport
- S61 · Hackney
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
- 70
- Injuries
- Unknown
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 22, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 541 total · 378 in this make and model · 541 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 28, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 MB 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.