Cessna 182H N1843X

Summary

On 16 September 2011 at about 16:00 local time, a Cessna 182H registered N1843X, operated by Bromley, Don Curtis, was involved in an accident near Paragonah, Utah, United States. 4 people were 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

16 September 2011 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Paragonah, Utah, United States

Coordinates

37.8925, -112.7756

Aircraft

Cessna 182H

Registration

N1843X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Bromley, Don Curtis

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Roosevelt → St. George

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11LA452

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to secure the left tank's fuel cap after refueling the airplane, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was in cruise flight when its engine lost power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a road, but, during the landing roll, he noticed a vehicle coming toward him. He turned the airplane to the right, off the road, through a fence, and into an adjacent field. A local law enforcement officer examined the airplane immediately after the accident and found both fuel tanks empty. He also noted that the left fuel tank’s cap was missing. Three days after the accident, the pilot found the fuel cap in the run-up area at the departure airport. The pilot stated that he had filled both fuel tanks before beginning the flight and that he either did not replace the fuel cap or left it loose following the refueling. Without the fuel cap in place, airflow over the wing suctioned fuel out of the left wing tank during flight. Because of the interconnection between the two wing fuel tanks, fuel from the right wing tank flowed into the left tank and was also lost overboard, resulting in fuel exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.