Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Palwaukee Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60089
Saturday, May 7, 2005 23:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was operated from the destination airport by a company providing airplane instructional and rental services. The airplane was piloted by a certified flight instructor (CFI) with a student pilot, who were returning with other company airplanes and instructors from a cross country flight to a casino. The airplane was on a night visual approach to the destination airport when the CFI executed a forced landing on a small dark area in a residential area following a total loss of engine power. The CFI reported to local law enforcement that the airplane ran out of gas. The CFI stated that he did not lean the mixture for the flight. Examination of the airplane revealed no usable fuel aboard, and the mixture control was in the full rich position. The student pilot stated that during the return flight the power setting was at a full setting at an altitude of 3,500 feet mean sea level. The CFI stated that he began his employment with the operator about one month prior to the accident following a company checkout in a different make and model. The CFI provided flight instruction in the accident airplane make and model upon his hire to student pilots without receiving company training and a checkout in the accident airplane make and model airplane. The CFI received a company checkout in an airplane make and model other than the accident airplane. The CFI stated that which he paid the costs associated with his company training which included airplane rental and company instructors. Following the accident, the CFI did not know under what conditions the airplane's fuel gauges would be accurate and did not know the accident airplane's maximum glide speed. The CFI did not know how to calculate a safe flight time or to make use of a dipstick to accurately determine fuel level as cited in an Federal Aviation Administration Accident Prevention Publication. The airplane engine was 613.7 hours past the engine manufacture's recommend time for a major engine overhaul of 1,800 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion during approach, inadequate preflight planning/preparation by the certified flight instruction (CFI), and the unsuitable terrain encountered by the CFI during the forced landing. An additional cause was the improper training of the CFI by the company. Contributing factors were the lack of familiarity with the airplane by the CFI and the night light conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/7/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2300 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Buffalo Grove |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60089 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 420651N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0875405W |
| Event Location Airport | Palwaukee Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PWK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 647 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PWK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 641 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19465 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 7 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dupage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11239 |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA110 |
| 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 | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15075273 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 7412.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | The Flight Center Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1120 S. Milwaukee |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wheeling |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60090 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DLL |
| Departure City | Baraboo |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PWK |
| Destination City | Wheeling |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 9 2006 7:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |