Lake Charles Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Charles, Louisiana 70601
Thursday, March 9, 2000 20:12 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot planned a 265 nautical mile flight that he thought would take about 3.1 hours. The airplane departed with both fuel tanks full, flew at 2,500 feet, and at a power setting of 2,300 rpm. The pilot did not lean the mixture during the flight. The airplane was descending through 1,000 feet, near the destination airport, when the engine rpm began increasing and decreasing. Subsequently, the engine lost total power and the pilot executed a forced landing to a field. During post-accident examination of the airplane, an FAA inspector drained 1.5 gallons of fuel from the left fuel tank and .05 gallons from the right fuel tank. Total fuel capacity was 26 gallons, of which 24.5 gallons were useable. Based on the performance charts in the POH for the C-152, and the altitude and power setting the pilot stated were used, the airplane would have had an endurance of 3.7 hours with a 45 minute reserve at 45% power. This endurance assumes leaning the mixture in cruise flight. According to the recording hour meter in the airplane, the duration of the flight was 3.7 hours. A friend of the pilot, who flew another C-152 on the same route, at the same altitude and power setting, landed his airplane at the destination successfully. A fuel receipt indicated that his airplane was fueled with 24.1 gallons of fuel. He reported that he leaned the mixture during cruise flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to refuel the airplane which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Factors were the pilot's poor preflight planning, failure to lean the mixture in accordance with the POH, and lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/9/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2012
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City LAKE CHARLES
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70601
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport LAKE CHARLES REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LCH
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 6
Degrees magnetic from airport 320
Airport Elevation 15
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2121 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID LCH
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 800
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 601
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 324
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 9 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N68333
NTSB Number FTW00LA094
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 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15282264
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 21 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 85
Airframe Hours 7409
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AER MISTRAL, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3804 FALCON WAY WEST
Aircraft Owner City FORT WORTH
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76106
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 FTW
Departure City FORT WORTH
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 1705
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code CWF
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
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 --