Cessna 172H N2440L

Summary

On 27 November 1996 at about 19:05 local time, a Cessna 172H registered N2440L, operated by Howell's Aircraft Service, was involved in an accident near Hammond, Louisiana, 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

27 November 1996 at 19:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Hammond, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

30.5304, -90.4606

Aircraft

Cessna 172H

Registration

N2440L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Howell's Aircraft Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Prairie → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97LA050

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadequate preflight, resulting in the total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Approximately 5 miles west of the destination airport, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot landed the airplane in a field, and during the landing roll, the left wing struck a concrete pump house. The FAA inspector on the scene reported that he checked the fuel tanks and found 'no fuel in the right wing tank' and 'about a cup' of fuel in the left wing tank. The pilot 'thought the aircraft was full of fuel' when he began the flight. He told the FAA inspector that he had made 'a visual check of the fuel in the tanks' during his preflight. The operator of the airplane reported that the airplane had been 'topped off' the day before the accident and then flown .7 hours. The airplane was not refueled after the .7 hour flight. The accident flight lasted 4.1 hours. The operating handbook for the Cessna 172H shows that at a cruising altitude of 5,000 feet and an engine power setting of 2,500 RPM, a Cessna 172H will have an endurance of 4.8 hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.