Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Gainesville, Florida 32601
Friday, October 29, 1999 11:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot was conducting his first solo cross-country flight, and was en route to his first destination airport. While approaching the airport, he was unable to make contact with the tower and decided that he was lost. He attempted to return to the original departure airport, but continued to be disoriented. The airplane was low on fuel and the propeller began to lose normal revolution. He located a field on which to perform a precautionary landing. During landing rollout, the airplane collided with two barbwire fences. According to the aircraft performance data, the airplane consumes approximately 6 gallons of fuel per hour. The student pilot departed with approximately 26 gallons of fuel (24.5 gallons useable) and flew for approximately 3.5 hours. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's in-flight decision that resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion after he became lost and disoriented. A factor was the two fences.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/29/1999
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1115
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City GAINESVILLE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32601
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 10
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID GNV
Elevation of weather observation facility 152
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 44
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1114
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 29 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 9:43AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N757YQ
NTSB Number ATL00LA006
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 15280113
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 Oct 18 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 46
Airframe Hours 14281
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name COMAIR AVIATION ACADEMY, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2700 FLIGHTLINE AVE.
Aircraft Owner City SANFORD
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32772
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 SFB
Departure City SANFORD
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 745
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MLB
Destination City MELBOURNE
Destination State FL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
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 --