Cessna 152 N588BR

Summary

On 3 March 2026 at about 15:42 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N588BR was involved in an accident near Thonotosassa, Florida, 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

3 March 2026 at 15:42

Classification

Accident

Location

Thonotosassa, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Tampa Exec (VDF)

Coordinates

28.0555, -82.3292

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N588BR

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tampa → Zephyrhills

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA26LA135

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, 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

The pilot had planned a multi-leg, cross-country flight at night that was to include a touch-and-go landing at the intermediate destination airport. The pilot had planned that the total duration of the flight would be about 3.25 hours. During the return flight leg, the pilot selected lower altitude cruising altitude than she had originally planned for, deviated slightly from her planned route, and decided to perform a practice instrument approach to the destination airport. About 3.8 (tachometer) hours into the flight, and about while about 10 miles away from the destination airport, the airplane’s engine began losing power. After about 1 minute, the engine lost total power and the pilot conducted a forced landing. The airplane subsequently struck trees and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. Maintenance personnel who recovered the airplane from the accident site drained about 8 oz of fuel from one fuel tank and about 9 oz from the other fuel tank, which was less than the airplane’s unusable fuel quantity of 3/4-gallon per tank. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Based on this information, the pilot’s preflight and inflight fuel planning did not sufficiently account for the prevailing weather conditions, the deviations from her flight plan, and the airplane’s actual fuel consumption, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.