GROVELAND, CA, USA
N19315
Cessna 150
The student pilot was on an endorsed solo cross-country flight and made an unplanned stop en-route. He did not refuel at the stop. According to the Hobbs recording hour meter he had operated the airplane for 4 hours. Upon arriving at his destination he attempted a go-around during which the engine failed. The operator/instructor stated that he had run the airplane out of fuel. The pilot operator handbook gives an endurance of 4.1 hours at 75 percent power and 7,000 feet for the installed fuel system.
On May 20, 1997, about 1600 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150, N19315, operated by Hi Desert Flight Center of Victorville, California, was destroyed during a go-around at Groveland, California. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Victorville on the morning of the accident as an endorsed student pilot solo cross-country flight. According to the student pilot, the engine failed during the go-around from runway 09 at Groveland. The operator stated that the Hobbs recording hour meter indicated 278.7 hours at departure. At the accident site the hour meter indicated 282.7 hours, or 4 hours of operation. According to the performance specifications listed in the pilot operator handbook for this airplane, the cruise range at 75 percent power at 7,000 feet with 22.5 gallons had an endurance of 4.1 hours. This airplane holds 26 gallons with 22.5 usable. According to the operator/instructor, the pilot ran the airplane out of fuel. The planned route of flight had been from Victorville, Palmdale, Bakersfield, Friant, to Groveland. The student had made an unplanned restroom stop at Porterville, but did not add fuel. The accident report was received completed, but unsigned, and listed a departure time from Victorville as 1100. Neither the student nor the operator/instructor could recall exactly when the airplane departed Victorville. Initial requests of the operator/instructor for the student's actual takeoff time and preflight planning information was not available.
was fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the lack of preflight review by the student's flight instructor and training.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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