Cessna 152 N68333

Summary

On 10 March 2000 at about 02:12 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N68333 was involved in an accident near Lake Charles, 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

10 March 2000 at 02:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Charles Regional (LCH)

Coordinates

30.2093, -93.1992

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N68333

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW00LA094

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to refuel the airplane which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Factors were the pilot's poor preflight planning, failure to lean the mixture in accordance with the POH, and lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot planned a 265 nautical mile flight that he thought would take about 3.1 hours. The airplane departed with both fuel tanks full, flew at 2,500 feet, and at a power setting of 2,300 rpm. The pilot did not lean the mixture during the flight. The airplane was descending through 1,000 feet, near the destination airport, when the engine rpm began increasing and decreasing. Subsequently, the engine lost total power and the pilot executed a forced landing to a field. During post-accident examination of the airplane, an FAA inspector drained 1.5 gallons of fuel from the left fuel tank and .05 gallons from the right fuel tank. Total fuel capacity was 26 gallons, of which 24.5 gallons were useable. Based on the performance charts in the POH for the C-152, and the altitude and power setting the pilot stated were used, the airplane would have had an endurance of 3.7 hours with a 45 minute reserve at 45% power. This endurance assumes leaning the mixture in cruise flight. According to the recording hour meter in the airplane, the duration of the flight was 3.7 hours. A friend of the pilot, who flew another C-152 on the same route, at the same altitude and power setting, landed his airplane at the destination successfully. A fuel receipt indicated that his airplane was fueled with 24.1 gallons of fuel. He reported that he leaned the mixture during cruise flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.