Cessna 172 N65615

Summary

On 2 November 2022 at about 16:52 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N65615, operated by CHS Flight School, was involved in an accident near Greenville, South Carolina, 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

2 November 2022 at 16:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Greenville, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Greenville Downtown (GMU)

Coordinates

34.8454, -82.2613

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N65615

Category

Airplane

Year built

1982

Engines

1

Operator

CHS Flight School

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Summerville → Greenville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA049

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing was the pilot’s failure to use the checklist aboard the airplane during her attempts to restore engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed for the visual flight rules cross-country flight with about 12 gallons of fuel in each fuel tank for the planned 1 hour and 40-minute flight. She reported that while enroute the fuel gauges were reading “low” and were fluctuating. Closer to the destination, the fuel gauges indicated that more fuel was present in the right fuel tank, so the pilot moved the fuel selector from the “both” position to the “right” position. About 1.5 hours into the flight, while flying at an altitude of about 2,000 feet above ground level and while being provided with radar vectors to the airport traffic pattern at the destination airport, the engine “started sputtering and got quiet.” The pilot attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful, and she subsequently performed a forced landing in a field. The impact with the ground resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing. Post-accident examination of the airplane found that the intact right-wing fuel tank was empty, that the intact left-wing fuel tank had about 6 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel remaining, and that the fuel selector was in the right tank position. During a postaccident interview the pilot stated that when the engine lost power she did not use a checklist in her attempt to restart the engine. Review of the power loss in flight checklist found aboard the airplane revealed that the sixth item stated “fuel selector – check/switch/both.” Based on all available information, it is likely that after the pilot selected the right fuel tank earlier in the flight, its fuel supply was eventually exhausted and the engine lost power. It is also likely that, had the pilot used the checklist and selected the “both” position on the fuel selector, the fuel remaining in the left fuel tank could have restored engine power before the forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.