Cessna 177 N3225T

Summary

On 5 July 2017 at about 21:30 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N3225T was involved in an accident near Wauseon, Ohio, United States. 3 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

5 July 2017 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Wauseon, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Fulton County (USE)

Coordinates

41.6122, -84.1389

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N3225T

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbus → Wauseon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17LA261

1 person had minor injuries.

The flight instructor’s inadequate preflight fuel planning, which resulted in a total 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 accident occurred during the third flight since the airplane had been filled with fuel. The student pilot and flight instructor stated that the engine lost power during the base leg to final approach to turn. The flight instructor took control of the airplane but had insufficient altitude to reach the runway, so he landed the airplane in a field just short of the runway where it contacted a ditch. The airplane had been flown about 3 hours 45 minutes since it was last filled with fuel. The expected fuel consumption for the engine was 11.7 gallons per hour (gph) at 75% power and 10.14 gph at 65% power, which resulted in an endurance of about 3 hours 30 minutes or 4 hours 10 minutes, respectively. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed 12 ounces of fuel remained in the fuel system, and there was no evidence of fuel leakage around the airplane. Given the fuel burn calculations and the evidence, it is likely that the flight instructor did not ensure that sufficient fuel was on board for the flight, which led to fuel exhaustion and the subsequent total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.