Aviation Crash Map

Cessna 182B N81MK

7 September 1997 · Madera, California, United States · Minor injuries

Summary

On 7 September 1997 at about 01:00 local time, a Cessna 182B registered N81MK was involved in an accident near Madera, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 01:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Madera, California, United States
Coordinates
36.9101, -120.1905
Aircraft
Cessna 182B
Registration
N81MK
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Unknown
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX97LA316

People

1 person had minor injuries.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 1 0

Probable cause

fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to compute the fuel required and the fuel available. The pilot's decision to extend his downwind beyond gliding distance of the runway after entering the traffic pattern was a factor in this accident.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot descended to land after a paradrop. Entering downwind, he cleared the engine, moved the mixture control to full rich, and applied carburetor heat. Being above traffic pattern altitude he extended his downwind. Upon reaching his base leg, he attempted to add power but the engine failed to respond. He switched tanks from both to the right and finally to the left. When the engine continued windmilling he executed a forced landing. The aircraft touched down perpendicular to the rows of the cotton field and nosed over. About 1 gallon of fuel was found in the right tank and 3 gallons found in the left. The aircraft had flown 1.6 hours since being last fueled with 19 gallons. The total fuel onboard after refueling is unknown. The engine manufacturer estimated that engine would consumed about 19 gallons during this period. The aircraft manufacturer stated that there are 1.5 gallons of unusable fuel in each tank. The carburetor icing probability chart, shows that carburetor icing was possible at glide and cruise power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Cessna 182 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
25 Jun 1997 Cessna 182Q
N96TJ
Sugar Land, Texas, United States - No injuries -
12 Oct 1997 Cessna 182B
N7269E
Palmer, Alaska, United States - No injuries -
4 May 1997 Cessna 182P
N1530M
Mobile, Alabama, United States Edward R. March JR. No injuries -
20 Jul 1997 Cessna 182
N5820B
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, United States - No injuries -
16 May 1997 Cessna 182P
N7322S
Red Hook, New York, United States - Minor injuries -
23 Jul 1997 Cessna 182F
N3265U
Haviland, Kansas, United States - No injuries -

All 6,261 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
24 Aug 1997 Airbus A300 B4-203
N862PA
Los Angeles, California, United States Pan American World Airways, In No injuries -
15 Aug 1997 Bell UH-1H
N205DF
Tahoe City, California, United States Usda / Forest Service Minor injuries -
11 Oct 1997 Cessna 152
N67293
Julian, California, United States Plus One Flyers, Inc. Fatal 1
11 Oct 1997 Schweizer 2-32
N242DB
Warner Springs, California, United States - Fatal 1
12 Oct 1997 Bellanca 7ECA
N11860
Tracy, California, United States - Fatal 1
26 Oct 1997 Extra Flugzeugbau EA-300
N69BW
Castaic, California, United States
no coordinates
- Fatal 2

All 170,864 records in United States