Cessna 172 N3772F

Summary

On 27 December 2016 at about 22:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N3772F was involved in an accident near Bridgeport, Alabama, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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 December 2016 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bridgeport, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

34.9858, -85.7228

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N3772F

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jasper → Jasper

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA075

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's decision to make steep turns to the right while operating on the right fuel tank with low fuel quantity, which led to a loss of engine power due to unporting of the right fuel tank and fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a local personal flight, the airline transport pilot was performing a series of steep turns to the right with the fuel selector positioned to the right tank, which contained about 4.5 gallons of fuel. When the airplane rolled out of a steep turn, the engine began to sputter and lose power. The pilot subsequently performed a forced landing to a field, during which the airplane flipped over and sustained substantial damage to the left wing. After the accident, the pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation and that the loss of engine power was likely the result of fuel starvation due to the low quantity of fuel in the right fuel tank. This likely occurred during the steep turn to the right as the fuel inside the right fuel tank flowed outboard and away from the fuel pickup located on the inboard side of the tank.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.