Cessna 182L N3356R

Summary

On 2 June 2007 at about 14:00 local time, a Cessna 182L registered N3356R was involved in an accident near Cheneyville, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 June 2007 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Cheneyville, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Alexandria Intl (AEX)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 182L

Registration

N3356R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bunkie → Temecula

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW07CA127

1 person had minor injuries.

The loss of engine power while climbing due to the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion. A factor associated with the accident was the soft terrain at the forced landing site.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that shortly after takeoff, the engine of his single-engine airplane developed an abnormal fluctuation while climbing through 1,300 feet MSL. As a precaution, the pilot elected to return to the departure airport; however, while turning to the airport, the engine lost power, and he prepared for a forced landing to an open field. Prior to the forced landing, he noticed freshly dug ditches on both side of the field, and he repositioned to an adjacent field to the right of his initial landing spot. The pilot added that the engine began to surge when the airplane was about 300 feet above the ground, which extended his glide. The airplane touched down on soft ground, the tires sunk in, and the airplane nosed-over. Examination of the airplane revealed the fuel bladders in both wings were not breached and there was no evidence of fuel stains around the vented fuel caps. Approximately 1-gallon of light blue fuel was drained from the right tank, and less than 1-gallon of light blue fuel was drained from the left tank. The fuel was free of water and debris. The engine mounted fuel strainer bowl was empty, and the fuel screen was clean. The pilot reported that he did a preflight inspection of the airplane, but did not visually inspect the fuel tanks. Instead he relied on a fuel flow meter installed in the cockpit, which indicated a total of 43.6 gallons. The pilot reported that the gauge was usually accurate, and he was unaware of what happened to the fuel he thought was onboard.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.