Cessna 180 N9311T

Summary

On 2 June 2001 at about 01:00 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N9311T was involved in an accident near Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. 4 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

2 June 2001 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

64.7833, -148.5517

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N9311T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nenana → Fairbanks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC01LA063

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane, his inadequate preflight planning/decision making, and subsequent fuel exhaustion during cruise flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certificated commercial pilot, with three passengers aboard, departed from a remote lake in a float-equipped, single engine airplane. While in level, cruise flight, the engine began to run rough, and lose power. Emergency procedures restored partial engine power momentarily, followed by a complete loss of engine power. The airplane collided with trees during a subsequent forced landing, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and empennage. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that both fuel tanks were empty. The pilot reported that the fuel gauges installed in his airplane would consistently provide an inaccurate fuel quantity reading. He added that prior to departure, he visually checked the quantity of fuel in the wing fuel tanks by using a fuel measuring device, but later added that the fuel level reading may have been in error due to the airplane's attitude while moored.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.