Cessna 152 N68851

Summary

On 17 June 2021 at about 14:10 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N68851, operated by US Aviation Academy, was involved in an accident near Bridgeport, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 June 2021 at 14:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Bridgeport, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.0900, -97.8700

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N68851

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

1

Operator

US Aviation Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN21LA278

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inaccurate estimate of the fuel level during his preflight inspection, which resulted in fuel exhaustion during cruise flight and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported the airplane had fuel exhaustion during cruise flight that resulted in a total loss of engine power and a forced landing in a field. The airplane touched down on the main landing gear and the pilot was able to keep the nose landing gear off the ground until the airplane traversed through a low area in the field, which caused the airplane to pitch down and the nose landing gear to collapse when it impacted the ground. The left wing rear spar was substantially damaged during the forced landing. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he visually inspected the airplane’s two 13-gallon fuel tanks before the flight and had estimated that each fuel tank was about ¾ full (about 19.5 gallons total). He did not utilize a calibrated dipstick to measure the actual fuel remaining in either fuel tank. According to flight track data, the loss of engine power occurred about 1 hour 25 minutes into the flight. The pilot stated that his inaccurate estimation of the fuel level before the flight had resulted in fuel exhaustion during cruise flight and a total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.