Cessna 150L N18609

Summary

On 27 November 2000 at about 01:50 local time, a Cessna 150L registered N18609, operated by David W. McBride, was involved in an accident near Valley Spring, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously 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 2000 at 01:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Valley Spring, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.8590, -98.8594

Aircraft

Cessna 150L

Registration

N18609

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David W. McBride

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pauls Valley → Lago Vista

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW01LA028

1 person was seriously injured.

the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion after the pilot became lost during cruise flight. A contributing factor was the dark night condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a night cross-country flight, the private pilot became lost and elected to turn back toward an airport he had over flown. During the pilot's diversion, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine by pumping the throttle. The engine gained a few RPM, but would not restart. The pilot saw what appeared to be a vehicle and attempted to land on a road. During the approach, the airplane struck a tree and came to rest in a tree approximately 6 feet above the ground. According to the aircraft salvage personnel, they removed 1 gallon of fuel from the right fuel tank and approximately 1 cup of fuel from the left fuel tank. The engine was test run under the supervision of an NTSB investigator. The engine was test run for 15 minutes at various power settings.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.