Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Charlotte, North Carolina 28208
Friday, March 18, 2005 18:53 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed Charlotte Douglas international Airport and climbed to 2,000 feet. The engine sputtered and lost power. He pulled the carburetor heat out, checked the magnetos, mixture full rich, and verified with his hand that the fuel selector was on both. He made a left turn back towards the airport and declared an emergency. The pilot made an emergency landing to a parking lot. The airplane collided with a curb, nosed over against a boulder, and a private automobile. The pilot stated that his mechanic changed the oil in his airplane before the first flight of the day. The mechanic informed the pilot that he had moved the fuel selector to the off position. The pilot stated he did not check the fuel selector valve during his preflight nor did he visually check it when the engine quit.. The pilot reported he did not verify the fuel selector valve position which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion." On scene examination of the fuel selector valve by the FAA revealed the fuel selector valve was in the off position and no anomalies were noted with the fuel selector valve. Review of the Cessna 175 Owner's Manual states in Figure 10. Exterior Inspection Diagram, "1. b. Turn off master switch, check ignition switch for "OFF" position, check tank selector on "BOTH." The Owner's Manual further sates on page 2-4, "BEFORE LANDING. (1) Set fuel selector to "both tanks."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the checklist by his failure to verify the fuel selector was in the on position which resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/18/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1853 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Charlotte |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28208 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351250N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0805635W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1815 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 340 |
| 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) | 17887 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1844 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charlotte FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7148M |
| NTSB Number | ATL05CA063 |
| 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 | 175 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55448 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRSIGN LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6211 Hwey Bottoms Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Indian Trail |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28079 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CLT |
| Departure City | Charlotte |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 28A |
| Destination City | Charlotte |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 2 2005 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |