December 9, 2015 BY General Aviation News

The private pilot stated that shortly after he descended the Cessna 150 and leveled off at 6,000 feet mean sea level (msl), the engine sputtered and lost power. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful.

The pilot subsequently executed a forced landing into a cement mixing yard near Henderson, Nevada, shearing off the landing gear and substantially damaging the fuselage and wings.

The CFI, who was acting as copilot, stated that sunset occurred about one hour into the flight. Local sunset time was approximately 4:27. The accident occurred at 8:38, which established the total time airborne about five hours.

Both pilots stated that the airplane was fully fueled before departing, and airport fueling records show that 19.6 gallons of fuel was purchased by the CFI.

The Cessna 150 Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) states that an airplane equipped with standard fuel tanks has 22.5 gallons of usable fuel, and has about five hours of endurance at cruise power.

First responders reported that there was no fuel observed in the airplane’s fuel tanks and no odor of fuel was observed at the accident site.

The NTSB determined the probable cause as improper in-flight fuel planning, which lead to fuel exhaustion, which resulted in a complete loss of engine power.

NTSB Identification: WPR14CA069

This December 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.