St Lucie County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Pierce, Florida 33450
Tuesady, August 15, 1989 18:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PLT WAS RTRNG FROM A X-COUNTRY FLT, WHEN HE ADVISED TOWER PSNL THAT HE 'JUST RAN OUT OF FUEL & WILL BE LANDING JUST SHORT OF THE RUWAY.' RPRTDLY, THERE WAS AN AGRICULTURAL GROVE IN THAT AREA. THE PLT RPRTD THAT HE LANDED IN A DRAINAGE 'CANAL' TO AVOID A 'HUT IN THE GROVE.' SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT NOSED OVER DURING THE LANDING.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL. THE TERRAIN (ROUGH/UNEVEN) IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/15/1989
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City FORT PIERCE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33450
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST LUCIE COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FPR
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 270
Airport Elevation 24
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1802 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID FPR
Elevation of weather observation facility 24
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
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) 1171
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 15 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2025
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39322
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:58PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N60847
NTSB Number MIA89LA223
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 150
Aircraft Series Identifier 150
Aircraft Serial Number 15070616
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 6 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 94
Airframe Hours 4374
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AERONAUCTICAL ACADEMY, INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3915 ST. LUCIE BLVD
Aircraft Owner City FORT PIERCE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34946
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 SRQ
Departure City SARASOTA
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1652
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code FPR
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 9
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --