Cessna 172F N8559U

Summary

On 27 January 2018 at about 06:20 local time, a Cessna 172F registered N8559U was involved in an accident near Williamsport, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 January 2018 at 06:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Williamsport, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

40.2306, -87.4111

Aircraft

Cessna 172F

Registration

N8559U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbus → Danville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN18FA088

1 person died.

The pilot's mismanagement of fuel, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and descent and collision with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was ferrying the newly-purchased airplane cross-country for the new owner. The first leg of the trip was completed without incident. After refueling the airplane, the pilot departed and proceeded toward the destination in night visual meteorological conditions. After about 3 hours, 51 minutes of flight, the airplane descended and impacted trees and terrain about 9 miles short of the destination. Examination of the wreckage revealed evidence of fuel exhaustion; both main fuel tanks were intact, no fuel was observed inside the tanks, and no fuel smell was noticed at the site. The lack of damage to the propeller blades was consistent with the engine not developing power at impact. According to the manufacturer's performance chart, with full main tanks, the airplane had an endurance of about 3.7 hours. Therefore, it is likely that the engine lost power as a result of fuel exhaustion. Although toxicology testing was positive for opioids, the relative amounts of these opioids detected in urine suggest that the source may have been the ingestion of poppy seeds rather than pharmaceuticals. 

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.