Cessna 150M N7682U

Summary

On 15 January 2024 at about 19:48 local time, a Cessna 150M registered N7682U, operated by Tech Flight Corp, was involved in an accident near Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 January 2024 at 19:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Venango Rgnl (FKL)

Coordinates

41.3774, -79.8606

Aircraft

Cessna 150M

Registration

N7682U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tech Flight Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Albany → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA101

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilots’ inadequate preflight fuel planning and in-flight fuel management, 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

During the first leg of a cross-country flight, the pilot observed that the fuel level indication was lower than expected. She elected to divert to a nearby airport where she topped off the airplane with 13 gallons of fuel, for a total fuel load of 22.5 usable gallons. About 3 ½ hours into the next leg of the flight, the pilot elected to divert to a closer airport to fuel the airplane again. As the pilot entered the airport traffic pattern, she overshot the final approach course and continued to circle for another attempt. During the maneuver, the engine lost all power and she was unable to troubleshoot due to the low altitude. The pilot then attempted to land on a taxiway, but during the landing flare the airplane struck a berm, collapsing the gear and substantially damaging the airframe before coming to rest. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that only the unusable quantity of fuel remained in the fuel tanks and no fuel was discovered in the gascolator. Examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Postaccident fuel consumption calculations for the takeoff and cruise portions of the accident flight also confirmed that available fuel quantity would have been exhausted at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.