Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stuart, Florida 34996
Tuesady, November 20, 2001 17:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot stated that prior to departure she fueled the airplane herself. She then departed Stuart and flew to Melbourne, Florida, and then returned to Stuart. The traffic pattern at Stuart was very busy, so she went to the practice area. She then made contact with the Stuart Control Tower and was cleared to enter right base for runway 7. She was about 8 miles from the airport, at 2,500 feet, and the engine was operating at 2,300 rpm. The engine then quit and she made a forced landing in a orange grove. Postcrash examination of the airplane by FAA inspectors showed the fuel selector was on, the right fuel tank was empty, and the left fuel tank contained 1.5 to 2 gallons of fuel. There was no evidence of fuel leakage from the airplane after the accident or in-flight prior to the accident. The engine tachometer showed the airplane had operated 3.1 flight hours since the pilot took the airplane. After the airplane was recovered, FAA inspectors observed company maintenance personnel attach a fuel supply to the engine and then start and operate the engine with no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction. The Pilot Operating Handbook for the Cessna 150 shows the airplane has 3.5 gallons of unusable fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations resulting in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and collision with trees during a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/20/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1725 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Stuart |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34996 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 270459N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802028W |
| 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 | 1650 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| 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 | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 11615 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 20 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N590AM |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA028 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 150-76540 |
| 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 | Oct 4 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 9231 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | APA Enterprises Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 110 W 9 Street RM 648 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19801 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Florida Pilot School, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2001 SE Airport Road |
| Operator City | Stuart |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 34996 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SUA |
| Departure City | Stuart |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SUA |
| Destination City | Stuart |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2002 12:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |