Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
Sunday, April 21, 1996 17:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot performed a forced landing after a sudden loss of engine power. She attempted a forced landing in a shopping mall parking lot. However, before landing, the airplane collided with a flexible flag pole and tree, and was substantially damaged. The airplane remained suspended in the tree until rescue personnel arrived. The student pilot received minor injuries. Both fuel tanks remained uncompromised and were inspected after the accident; no evidence of fuel was found. Also, no preimpact mechanical deficiency was found. The pilot stated that she may have exhausted the airplane's fuel supply during the flight. Investigation revealed that she had utilized inaccurate information to perform fuel consumption calculations, and that she took on an inadequate amount of fuel at her last departure point. The student pilot had deviated from the flight plan that was endorsed by the flight instructor.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, by failuring to properly calculate the fuel consumption of the airplane, which led to fuel exhaustion and loss of power during cruise flight, due to an inadequate supply of fuel. A factor relating to the accident was: the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/21/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City SALT LAKE CITY
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84116
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 4
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1850 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID SLC
Elevation of weather observation facility 4227
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
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) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 929
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 21 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 9:57AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8873S
NTSB Number SEA96LA082
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150
Aircraft Series Identifier 150
Aircraft Serial Number 15062173
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 10 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name OLSON, LEE ANN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6050 S. MAIN STREET, APT. 9301
Aircraft Owner City BOUNTIFUL
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84010
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 U42
Departure City WEST JORDON
Departure State UT
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MLF
Destination City MILFORD
Destination State UT
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 --