Cessna 180 N6577A

Summary

On 12 August 2022 at about 23:02 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N6577A was involved in an accident near Sutton-Alpine, Alaska, United States. One person was 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

12 August 2022 at 23:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Sutton-Alpine, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.7575, -149.0227

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N6577A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wasilla → Wasilla

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC22LA068

1 person had minor injuries.

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

About two hours into the flight, while at cruise altitude over mountainous terrain, the airplane’s engine sustained a loss of power. The pilot was unable to restore engine power and performed a forced landing to a canyon, resulting in substantial damage when the airplane impacted trees. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel lines and carburetor contained about 2 oz of fuel. The fuel strainer remained undamaged and did not contain any fuel and the fuel tanks contained minimal fuel. The examination did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that he departed on the flight with about 3 hours of fuel. He also stated to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors that the airplane was “low” on fuel when the loss of engine power occurred. There were signs of fuel stains on the airplane at the accident site; therefore, it is possible that fuel leaked the from tanks while the airplane sat at the accident site. However, since there was no fuel found in the undamaged fuel strainer, it is likely that the pilot did not have as much fuel onboard as he thought, and that the loss of engine power was due to fuel exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.