Cessna R182 N6359T

Summary

On 25 January 2014 at about 20:45 local time, a Cessna R182 registered N6359T, operated by Gelbach Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Mt. Morris, Illinois, 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

25 January 2014 at 20:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Mt. Morris, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

42.0475, -89.4339

Aircraft

Cessna R182

Registration

N6359T

Category

Airplane

Year built

1984

Engines

1

Operator

Gelbach Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Joplin → Janesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN14CA124

1 person had minor injuries.

The total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning and decision-making.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial rated pilot was repositioning the airplane from Texas to Wisconsin, with an intermediate stop in Missouri. He said he departed Texas with 88 usable gallons of fuel and flew for 3 hours and 10 minutes before landing in Missouri. The pilot purchased 30 gallons of fuel in Missouri but was unsure how many gallons were in the tanks when he departed since he did not visually check the tanks. While en route to Wisconsin, the pilot encountered severe turbulence and a strong crosswind. The pilot said that as he approached his destination airport, the fuel gauges were getting "lower and lower." He said that when he was about 20 minutes from landing (about 2 hours and 45 minutes into the flight), the engine ran out of gas and stopped producing power. The pilot made a forced landing to a snow covered field, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and firewall. According to a mechanic that recovered the airplane, no leaks were observed in the airplane's fuel system and about one pint of fuel was drained from the left wing fuel tank and the right wing fuel tank was empty.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.