Hicks Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Worth, Texas 76052
Thursday, December 20, 2007 14:20 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot reported that prior to departing his home airport on a cross-country flight, the airplane's fuel tanks were full. During the cross-country flight, the pilot thought the engine started to make a "weird sound", and he elected to land at a nearby airport, where he did an engine run-up and magneto check. No problems were observed, and he continued his flight. During the flight back to his home airport, the engine lost power, and the pilot made a forced landing in a vacant field. The airplane's fuel strainer was removed on site, and no fuel was found. The Hobbs meter recorded the flight's duration as 3.2 hours. During the airplane's recovery, no fuel was observed in the wing's fuel tanks. The engine was examined on January 16, 2008. The sparkplugs were in new condition, and had light gray deposits. The magnetos produced spark at each terminal, and were timed to the engine. A thumb compression test was preformed, and continuity through the engine was confirmed. An external inspection of the engine also failed to find any mechanical problems.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/20/2007
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1420
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Fort Worth
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76052
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 325550N
Event Location Longitude 0972440W
Event Location Airport HICKS AIRFIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T67
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 10
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID KAFW
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.85
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23155
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Dec 20 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 31 2008 11:52AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Worth, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N49962
NTSB Number DFW08LA046
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15281416
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 Jul 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 7.6
Airframe Hours 14336
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Magnum Assets, Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 137 Aviator Drive
Operator City Fort Worth
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 76179
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code T67
Departure City FORT WORTH
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Fort Worth
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 22 2008 3:51PM
User who most recently changed record GAMW
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --