Cessna 150 N60252

Summary

On 27 May 2016 at about 20:09 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N60252 was involved in an accident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, 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

27 May 2016 at 20:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Albuquerque Intl Sunport (ABQ)

Coordinates

35.0206, -106.5878

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N60252

Category

Airplane

Year built

1969

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Socorro → Albuquerque

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA267

1 person had minor injuries.

The student pilot's inadequate preflight inspection/planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The solo student pilot reported that while on a cross country flight the airplane's engine started to "sputter" and then stopped. During the off airport forced landing the airplane impacted a ravine. According to the student pilot, prior to the loss of engine power, there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the engine mount. The airplane recovery specialist reported that he drained about two gallons of fuel from the airplane's fuel tanks prior to the airplane being moved. According to the manufacturer the airplane has 3 gallons of unusable fuel. As a safety recommendation the student pilot reported that he should have visually inspected the fuel with a fuel hawk dipstick.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.