Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hilo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Thursday, September 11, 1997 16:20 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft lost power while on approach approximately 9 miles south of the airport. Subsequently, it nosed over during a landing in tall grass. The hobbs meter showed the duration of flight to be a total of 3.1 hours. The aircraft held 26 total gallons of fuel, with 22.5 usable. The second pilot reported to the mechanic/owner that they 'were flying at about 110 MPH, they were not at altitude, and they did little leaning.' According to the Cessna Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) for the 150L, the aircraft will burn approximately 7 gallons per hour at 2,500 feet msl with full power and using 92 percent horsepower. The POH specifies the total range to be 3.2 hours for those specific conditions. No fuel was found remaining in or around the aircraft after the accident, and the surrounding vegetation did not show signs of fuel spillage. Neither pilot reported how fuel quantity was verified or how much fuel they had on board before departure. The engine was examined by a licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic, who found no discrepancies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to verify the quantity of fuel before departure, and to monitor fuel consumption during the flight, which led to fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and a forced landing. Tall grass in the emergency landing was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1620 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | HILO |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96720 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HILO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ITO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 9 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 871 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 12 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18503 |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA322 |
| 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 | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15073896 |
| 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 | Jun 3 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 710 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAHN P. MUELLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 98-630 MOANALUA LOOP APT 229 |
| Aircraft Owner City | AIEA |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96701 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HNL |
| Departure City | HONOLULU |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ITO |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |