Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Miami, Florida 33196
Sunday, April 6, 1997 15:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight. He stated that he experienced a loss of engine power at 1800 feet while approaching Kendall-Tamiami Airport for landing. He made a distress call and selected a forced landing area. The pilot made a forced landing on a dirt trail. The nose gear collapsed on landing roll out in soft terrain and the airplane spun around 180 degrees. Examination of the aircraft revealed that no useable fuel was found in the aircraft tanks or fuel system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's inadequate preflight planning and improper fuel consumption calculations which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/6/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City MIAMI
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33196
Event Date Year 1997
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 1518 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID TMB
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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) 110
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 6 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:13PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N50918
NTSB Number MIA97LA121
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 150J
Aircraft Series Identifier 150J
Aircraft Serial Number 15069641
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 5 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4376
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KIRK ENTERPRISES INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4700 SW 108 AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City MIAMI
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33165
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ADF AIRWAYS CORPORATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 14532 S.W. 129 STREET
Operator City MIAMI
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33186
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 X14
Departure City LA BELLE
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TMB
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
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 --