Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Worth, Texas 76106
Wednesday, July 2, 1997 14:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot's initial solo cross-country flight was intended to follow a 122 nautical mile VFR round trip course which was planned to take about 1 hour and 40 minutes. During the return leg, the pilot became lost and landed at a different airport, located about 20 miles from her intended destination. She took off again to try to get back to her destination, and while en route, the engine lost power. During the ensuing forced landing, the airplane skidded along a roadway and struck a utility pole. The aircraft had been operating for about 3 hours and 15 minutes before the loss of power. According to refueling records, the pilot originally departed with about 19 to 20 gallons of fuel on board. The engine's fuel burn for normal cruise was about 6 gallons per hour. No usable fuel was found in the tanks at the accident site.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

fuel exhaustion, due to the pilot's failure to refuel before taking off on the remainder of the flight after making a precautionary landing. Factors related to the accident were: the pilot becoming lost and disoriented, and the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/2/1997
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City FORT WORTH
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76106
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
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 320
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1404 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID AFW
Elevation of weather observation facility 722
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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) 217
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 2 1997 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 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N69073
NTSB Number FTW97LA244
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 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15282478
Certified Max Gross Weight 1675
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 May 19 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 93
Airframe Hours 8432
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PATRICK JOHNSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address RT 2 PO BOX 189A
Aircraft Owner City BRIDGEPORT
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76426
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name BRIDGEPORT FLIGHT TRAINING
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 AFW
Departure City ALLIANCE
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code IF9
Destination City BRIDGEPORT
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 --