St Louis Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bethalto, Illinois 62010
Sunday, June 11, 2000 10:35 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

N66081 was destroyed when it nosed over on impact with a ditch during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power. The pilot was uninjured. The pilot said, 'I preflighted the airplane at 6:45 a.m. and checked fuel prior to take off from I34. The airplanes was fueled the day prior and flown .5 hrs or less.' The pilot stated, 'While enroute to (K39) St.Clair Regional I decided to stop at (VLA) Vandalia, IL for a weather update and restroom break. ... Vandalia had 2 parachutists under canopy and two more jumping in less that 2 minutes. The traffic pattern was full as well so I decided to fly northeast to St. Louis Regional - get fuel and a weather briefing. After getting clearance to land and setting up for pattern entry and starting to level off from descent to traffic pattern altitude the engine quit running. I radioed the tower and squacked 7700 on the x-ponder. After all emergency procedures failed to start the engine I made an off field landing in a soy bean field. The aircraft struck a ditch and flipped over destroying aircraft.' Reported flight time for the accident flight was three and a half hours. A FAA on-scene examination revealed no anomalies. Approximately one half gallon of fluid was found on the ground around each of the fuel tank's cap vent areas. A Cessna 150 performance-specification page stated, 'RANGE: Cruise, ... 22.5 Gallons, No Reserve ... 4.1 hrs.'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the improper in-flight decision of the pilot to fly past the Vandalia airport onto Saint Louis Regional and the fuel exhaustion. A factor was the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/11/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1035
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City BETHALTO
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62010
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport ST LOUIS REGIONAL AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ALN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 80
Airport Elevation 544
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1040 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 260
Weather Observation Facility ID ALN
Elevation of weather observation facility 544
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
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 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) 640
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 11 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1327
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2001 4:05AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N66081
NTSB Number CHI00LA159
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150M
Aircraft Series Identifier 150M
Aircraft Serial Number 15075821
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 25 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8
Airframe Hours 4850
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name GLEN W. HEATH
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7514 S. 95TH E. AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City TULSA
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 74133
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 I34
Departure City GREENSBURG
Departure State IN
Departure Country
Departure Time 705
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code K39
Destination City ST CLAIR
Destination State MO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2001 4:05AM
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 --