FREELAND, WA, USA
N7557A
Cessna 150M
While returning to the airport of initial departure after practicing landings at another airport, the engine lost all power. The flight instructor attempted a forced landing in an open field during light rain. During his approach to the field, he allowed his airspeed and altitude to get too high, and he missed his touchdown point. The aircraft initially touched down after passing over two-thirds of the available landing distance, and then bounced back into the air. When it touched down again on the wet grass, there was not enough distance remaining to stop the aircraft prior to it running off the end of the field and colliding with trees. During the investigation, it was revealed that prior to takeoff, the flight instructor had determined the total fuel in the aircraft by allowing the student pilot to dip the tanks with a homemade wooden measuring stick. The instructor did not monitor the student as he made the measurements, but simply took his word for what the measurements were. Based upon those measurements, the instructor estimated that the aircraft had about 11 gallons of fuel onboard prior to departure. After the accident, 1.5 gallons of fuel were found in the left wing, 2.5 gallons were found in the right wing, and one ounce of fuel was found in the carburetor bowl. It was also noted that according to the Pilot's Operating Handbook, of the possible 26 gallons of total fuel capacity, 3.5 gallons are unusable.
On May 12, 1997, approximately 1815 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N7557A, collided with trees during an off-airport emergency landing in an open field near Freeland, Washington. The certified flight instructor and his student received minor injuries, and the aircraft, which was owned and operated by Northway Aviation Club, Inc., sustained substantial damage. The FAR Part 91 instructional flight, which departed Jefferson County International Airport, Port Townsend, Washington, about 20 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed. According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), the flight was planned to be from Paine Field, in Everett, Washington, to Jefferson County International Airport in Port Townsend, Washington, and then to return to Paine Field. Prior to the initial departure, the CFI had the student pilot measure the level of fuel in the two wing tanks by dipping them with a homemade wooden measuring stick. Based upon this measurement, which the CFI did not monitor, he estimated that the aircraft would have about 11 gallons of total fuel at the time of the departure from Paine Field. After arriving at Port Townsend, the student pilot performed one touch-and-go and one full-stop landing, and then the return flight to Paine Field was begun. During the return flight, while the student pilot was practicing an emergency descent procedure, the CFI noticed that the engine appeared to be running rough. He therefore applied carburetor heat, and soon thereafter the engine stopped. The aircraft was approximately 1,500 feet AGL when the engine quit, and when the power loss occurred, the CFI took control of the aircraft, and while gliding toward an open field (see photo #1), he attempted to get the engine restarted. He was unable to get the engine to start, and at 600 feet AGL, the CFI gave up on restarting the engine, and concentrated entirely on setting up for the forced landing. During the last part of the approach, the CFI allowed his airspeed and altitude to get too high, and he did not touch down until he had passed over two-thirds of the available landing area in the field. In a post-accident interview, the CFI said, "...my approach was too high and too fast, and I missed my target landing spot." After the aircraft's initial touchdown, it bounced back into the air, and finally settled back onto the ground very near the end of the field. The pilot attempted to stop the aircraft in the remaining distance, but a light rain was falling and the grass was wet, and he was unable to get the aircraft stopped before it collided with trees at the edge of the field. During a post-accident inspection of the airframe and engine, both magnetos were found to produce a spark on all of their ignition leads, but only one ounce of fuel was found in the carburetor bowl. During this inspection, both wing tanks were drained of fuel, and 1.5 gallons were recovered from the left wing and 2.5 gallons were recovered from the right wing. According to the FAA inspector who went to the site of the accident, there was no indication that any fuel had leaked from the wing tanks onto the ground after the accident. A review of the Pilot's Operating Handbook showed that of the maximum fuel capacity of 26 gallons, 3.5 gallons are not useable. No other pre-impact anomalies that would have kept the engine from running were found.
Fuel exhaustion due to the flight instructor's failure to insure there was proper fuel in the aircraft and the flight instructor's misjudgment of his altitude and airspeed while executing a power-off forced landing in a large open field. Factors include: a wet landing surface and trees located on the boundary of the field.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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