Cessna 150 N6475T

Summary

On 3 July 2001 at about 00:34 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N6475T, operated by Randy L. Thompson, was involved in an accident near Delano, California, 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

3 July 2001 at 00:34

Classification

Accident

Location

Delano, California, United States

Coordinates

35.7806, -119.2304

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N6475T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Randy L. Thompson

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Delano → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01TA233

Nobody was injured.

A bent mixture control valve stem shaft in the carburetor which made pilot control of the mixture inoperative resulting in excessive fuel consumption, and subsequent loss of engine power..

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft collided with grapevines and supporting trellises during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. According to the pilot, his passenger fueled the airplane prior to departure. They purposely waited until after they ate lunch and immediately before departure to refuel the airplane in order to obtain the maximum quantity of cool fuel. The passenger had flown about 40 photo missions with the pilot and was aware of the importance of fueling the airplane to maximum capacity. He assured the pilot that the fuel tanks were completely full. The accident occurred 3 hours 34 minutes after departure. The pilot stated that during recovery, 1/2-gallon of fuel was found in the airplane. The pilot also told the Safety Board investigator that he routinely flew the airplane 4 hours to 4 hours 5 minutes and it would require 20- to 20.5-gallons fuel to fill the tanks. The airplane holds 26 gallons fuel, of which 22.5 are usable fuel. The engine was test run and started promptly and ran smoothly. The magneto check and carburetor heat check were normal. The engine did not stop when the mixture control was moved to the idle cutoff position. The inspection revealed that the mixture control arm was loose on its shaft. The carburetor was examined and the mixture control valve stem shaft was found bent and was not inserted into the sleeve in the bowl. According to the representative from the carburetor manufacturer, the carburetor operates in the "full rich" condition at all times when the stem is not inserted in the sleeve and subsequent movement of the mixture control would have no effect. The examination also revealed that the mixture control lever was loose on the shaft and the stop peg traveled beyond the idle cutoff stop pad. The pilot/operator reported that no recent maintenance had been performed on the carburetor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.