La Porte Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baytown, Texas 77520
Saturday, March 16, 2013 22:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that, during the night, cross-country flight, she had briefly considered an en route stop for additional fuel because of the increased headwind but that she decided to continue. During a shallow turn to enter the traffic pattern about 6 miles from the destination airport, the airplane experienced a total loss of power, and the pilot made an emergency off-airport landing. The airplane impacted trees and bushes in a thickly wooded area, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings and ailerons and the engine mount, fuselage, and empennage. The airplane had a total fuel capacity of 26.0 gallons with 22.5 gallons of usable fuel. Postaccident examination found that only a trace amount of fuel remained in the right tank and that the left tank was empty. The pilot estimated that the fuel consumption rate was about 7.3 gallons per hour and that the accident flight was about 3.3 hours long. Therefore, a total of about 24 gallons of fuel would have been needed for the flight, which was more than the usable fuel in the airplane. The pilot attributed her lack of more serious or fatal injuries to her use of a shoulder harness.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s poor in-flight decision-making and improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/16/2013
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2200
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Baytown
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77520
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 294333N
Event Location Longitude 0945918W
Event Location Airport La Porte Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T41
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 6
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 25
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2150 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 229
Weather Observation Facility ID KEFD
Elevation of weather observation facility 32
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 31270
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regl Opns Ctr - Ft Worth T
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 12 2013 2:42PM
User who most recently changed record latt
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6389S
NTSB Number CEN13CA197
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 150G
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15067189
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
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 Jul 16 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5622
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91-A
Aircraft Owner Name LINDA C SHACKELFORD
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City WEBSTER
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77598-1801
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name LINDA C SHACKELFORD
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City WEBSTER
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77598-1801
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 TRL
Departure City Terrell
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1845
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code T41
Destination City La Porte
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 20 2013 2:53PM
User who most recently changed record seak
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --