Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Muleshoe, Texas 79347
Saturday, March 9, 1996 19:55 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot (an Egyptian national) departed on his initial solo crosscountry flight at 1500. He became lost on the first leg, and after receiving navigation assistance from ATC, made a full stop landing at his planned interim airport about 2 hours and 16 minutes after departure. A ramp attendant said the student seemed 'very nervous.' The ramp attendant asked the student if he wanted to refuel, but the student refused. The student departed the interim airport at 1750. About 50 minutes later, he became lost again. Pilots of other aircraft and ATC attempted to help the student via radio, but where not successful. When asked if his VOR was functioning, the student replied, 'its out of order, [and it] says OFF and I can't get a TO or FROM.' After nightfall, the airplane hit a power line and crashed on the shoulder of a highway about 60 miles north of the intended destination. No fuel spillage was detected at the site, and only about 1 gallon of fuel was found remaining in the fuel tanks. The total flight time without refueling was about 4 hours and 21 minutes; the last 30 minutes was at night. According to performance charts, fuel consumption would have been about 5.6 gallons per hour. Fuel capacity was 26 gallons of which 22.5 gallons were usable. The pilot had a total of 27.6 hrs of day VFR flight time, no night time, and 1.6 hrs of solo time. No preimpact mechanical defect was found. No record was found that the pilot's flight instructor or flight school had contacted FAA authorities to inquire about the overdue aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
improper planning/decision by the student pilot, and his failure to take adequate remedial action after becoming lost and encountering a low fuel situation, which subsequently resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and a forced landing at night. Factors relating to the accident were: the student pilot became lost/disoriented, inadequate supervision by the flight instructor (CFI), darkness, and the inability of the student pilot to see the power lines during an emergency landing at night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1955 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MULESHOE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79347 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LBB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3281 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 60 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1180 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 9 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66362 |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA143 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15075994 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 19 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEVELLAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ROUTE 4 BOX 18 |
| Aircraft Owner City | JACKSBORO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76458 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HOB |
| Departure City | HOBBS |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1750 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | Q24 |
| Destination City | LEVELLAND |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |