Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Austin, Texas 78723
Wednesday, December 25, 1996 12:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to tower personnel at the airport, the pilot declared an emergency due to a low fuel state. Within minutes the engine was reported to have lost power, and the pilot announced that he was attempting to execute a forced landing in a local high school field approximately 1 mile southeast of the airport. The airplane missed the field, collided with power lines, and subsequently impacted an unoccupied residence in a nose low attitude. The pilot stated that he departed Addison at approximately 1000 hours with the fuel gages reading between 3/4 and full. The pilot added that he navigated to Austin at 4,000 feet MSL, and based on the smoke being emitted from a fire near a lake, he determined that he had a tailwind. A detailed examination of the airplane's fuel system confirmed that no usable fuel was present in either fuel cell. The distance between Addison, Texas, and Austin, Texas, is 166.2 nautical miles.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as result of the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane. Factors were the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing and the pilot's improper preflight inspection of the fuel system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/25/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1205 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | AUSTIN |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78723 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1215 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 600 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1282 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 25 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66773 |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15076267 |
| 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 | Dec 5 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 4000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEMOIN D. WATKINS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1037 CLINTON STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARROLLTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75007 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ADS |
| Departure City | ADDISON |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AUS |
| Destination City | AUSTIN |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | -- |