Cessna 150J N51256

Summary

On 5 September 2001 at about 03:30 local time, a Cessna 150J registered N51256 was involved in an accident near Sonoma, California, United States. One person was 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

5 September 2001 at 03:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Sonoma, California, United States

Nearest airport

Sonoma Skypark (0Q9)

Coordinates

38.2404, -122.4610

Aircraft

Cessna 150J

Registration

N51256

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Andreas → Sonoma

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX01LA289

Nobody was injured.

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight fuel consumption calculations and failure to ensure that adequate fuel was onboard the airplane prior to departure. A factor in the accident was the pilot's continued use of the airplane with known mechanical deficiencies.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an approach for landing the engine lost power and the pilot made a forced landing in a vineyard where the airplane came to rest on it's nose. Fuel was observed in the fuel tanks. Fuel recovered from the fuel tanks was 4.5 gallons. According to the manufacturer, 3.5 gallons of fuel is unusable. During the engine inspection it was noted that the ignition switch was defective and did not allow for proper contact with the system. Pressure had to be applied to the instrument panel in order to allow a positive ground to the system for start up. The pilot indicated that the ignition switch had been defective prior to the accident flight and had been that way for some time. A successful engine ground run was conducted with no further mechanical discrepancies noted. Review of the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart revealed that weather conditions were conducive to serious icing at climb or cruise power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.