Cessna 152 N49962

Summary

On 20 December 2007 at about 20:20 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N49962 was involved in an accident near Fort Worth, Texas, 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

20 December 2007 at 20:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Worth, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Hicks Airfield (T67)

Coordinates

32.9306, -97.4111

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N49962

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Fort Worth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08LA046

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot reported that prior to departing his home airport on a cross-country flight, the airplane's fuel tanks were full. During the cross-country flight, the pilot thought the engine started to make a "weird sound", and he elected to land at a nearby airport, where he did an engine run-up and magneto check. No problems were observed, and he continued his flight. During the flight back to his home airport, the engine lost power, and the pilot made a forced landing in a vacant field. The airplane's fuel strainer was removed on site, and no fuel was found. The Hobbs meter recorded the flight's duration as 3.2 hours. During the airplane's recovery, no fuel was observed in the wing's fuel tanks. The engine was examined on January 16, 2008. The sparkplugs were in new condition, and had light gray deposits. The magnetos produced spark at each terminal, and were timed to the engine. A thumb compression test was preformed, and continuity through the engine was confirmed. An external inspection of the engine also failed to find any mechanical problems.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.