FRIENDLY, MD, USA
N8709G
Cessna 150F
While on the last leg of a solo cross-country flight, the student pilot became disoriented and contacted air traffic control for assistance. The air traffic controller at vectored the airplane over the destination airport two times, but the student pilot could not visually identify the airport due to increasing darkness. After about 20 minutes of searching for the airport, the fuel supply was exhausted, and the engine quit. The student pilot conducted a forced landing to a road, where it struck a tree before coming to rest upright. Visual inspection of the airplane after the accident revealed no evidence of fuel in the airplanes wing tanks or at the accident site.
On August 21, 2000, about 2105 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 150F, N8709G, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Friendly, Maryland. The student pilot was not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to the student pilot's flight instructor, the student pilot was signed off by his flight instructor to conduct a solo cross-country flight. At 1602, the student pilot departed the Potomac Airfield (VKX), Friendly, Maryland, and proceeded to Salisbury, Maryland. The student pilot landed and then proceeded back to VKX. While proceeding to VKX, the student pilot became disoriented and contacted Andrews Air Force Base (ADW) for assistance. The air traffic controller at ADW vectored the airplane over VKX two times, but the student pilot could not visually identify the airport due to increasing darkness. After about 20 minutes of searching for the airport, the fuel supply was exhausted, and the engine stopped. The student pilot conducted a forced landing to a road, where the airplane struck a tree before coming to rest upright. Visual inspection of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no evidence of fuel in the airplanes wing tanks or at the accident site.
The pilot's inability to locate the airport, which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor related to the accident was the night light conditions.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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