Cessna 152 N24963

Summary

On 25 March 1996 at about 05:00 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N24963, operated by California Wings of San Diego, was involved in an accident near Carlsbad, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 March 1996 at 05:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Carlsbad, California, United States

Coordinates

33.1294, -117.3005

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N24963

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

California Wings of San Diego

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX96LA145

Nobody was injured.

inadequate preflight by the pilot, and subsequent fuel exhaustion, due to an inadequate supply of fuel. Darkness and trees in the emergency landing area were related factors.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to responding police officers, the pilot stated that the airplane ran out of fuel, while in flight at night. Subsequently, it collided with ground obstructions (trees) during a forced landing and was damaged. The officers observed only residual fuel in the tanks. In a written statement, the pilot said that during his preflight inspection, he looked inside the fuel tanks and noted that the fuel was about 1 to 2 inches below the filler neck. He assumed that the fuel gauges, which indicated over 3/4 full, were correct; and he estimated that about 2 hours 45 minutes of fuel was onboard. The pilot did not use a calibrated dipstick or other definitive means to quantify the amount of fuel in the tanks. He said that when the engine began to run rough, he looked at the fuel gauges, and they read zero.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.