Cessna 152 N46129

Summary

On 13 June 1998 at about 03:06 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N46129, operated by Armin Ellinger, was involved in an accident near Boynton Beach, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 June 1998 at 03:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Boynton Beach, Florida, United States

Coordinates

26.5195, -80.1091

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N46129

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Armin Ellinger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lantana → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

ATL98LA082

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning that resulted in a 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

The pilot had flown about three hours, and was enroute to the initial departure airport. During the return flight, he encountered weather conditions that forced him to land and wait for conditions to improve. Approximately 30 minutes into this phase of the flight, the engine lost power. The engine regained power after the pilot employed restart procedures. Moments later, the engine quit again. The pilot selected a public road for an emergency landing area. The airplane collided with utility wires during the emergency descent. The pilot had flown approximately three hours and thirty-six minutes since the airplane was last refueled. The pilot initially reported that he departed with six hours of fuel, but later realized that the airplane only had a fuel capacity of 24 gallons usable. The average fuel consumption rate is approximately six gallons per hour. The pilot reported that he had flown the entire flight at an altitude of 2000 feet and 2300 rpm, with the mixture in the full rich position. During the examination of the airplane, no fuel was recovered from the undamaged fuel tank system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.