Cessna 152 N64986

Summary

On 16 March 2005 at about 19:31 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N64986 was involved in an accident near Port Royal, Virginia, 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

16 March 2005 at 19:31

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Royal, Virginia, United States

Coordinates

38.1681, -77.2075

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N64986

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Raleigh/Durham → Clinton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD05LA045

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed into instrument meteorological conditions and initially encountered icing at 5,000 feet. He then descended the airplane to 3,000 feet, where about 30 minutes later the engine experienced roughness. After an application of carburetor heat, the engine smoothed and the pilot continued the flight. About 1 hour later, and at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the pilot noted the presence of mist, and that the temperature was slightly above freezing, and activated the pitot heat. Shortly thereafter the engine suddenly "quit," and the pilot performed a forced landing to a highway. During the landing rollout, both wings struck signs next to the highway and the airplane then veered off the highway and into a median. Following the accident, FAA inspectors asked the pilot to start the engine, and it ran for 30 seconds at idle rpm, until the pilot shut it down. During the recovery process, about 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the fuel tanks, and no indications could be found that either fuel tank had been compromised during the accident. The pilot stated that prior to the accident flight, he determined the amount of fuel onboard the airplane by estimating the fuel consumed on the previous flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.