According to the pilot, the Cessna 172 lost power as it approached the destination airport in Temecula, Calif. He attempted to restart the engine, but was not successful, so he decided to land on a nearby street.
During the landing roll, the airplane hit a chain link fence and sustained substantial damage to the engine firewall, undercarriage, and the tail. The pilot received minor injuries.
Examination of the fuel tanks revealed that both tanks contained a total of 1.5 gallons of fuel. The pilot operating handbook identifies 3 gallons as unusable.
The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident as the pilot’s inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
NTSB Identification: WPR13CA163
This March 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
All I can say is this, not being a pilot. I speak as a person who loves flight, lives near an airport and a privately owned
Aerodrome for private and small aircraft, all I am going to add is this.He came down on a road, how bloody good and convenient for him. What about anyone not able to get out of the way if vehicles had been in his way? Why should he get away with that error. Not putting adequate fuel on the tank of any aircraft would be a death trap to innocent people on the ground wherever the plane did come down. Stupid , criminal, ridiculous is all I can say to that.It happened to a guy here at Brisbane some time back. He was on approach to land his single engine aircraft at Brisbanes ‘ Archerfield Aerodrome. Oh oh , splutter bang no go no fuel. He tried to land in open ground near the main road everything went wrong and he ended upside down in water. Of course the open ground was vacant land at the back of the John Tong centre. At least they didnt have far to take him when they retrieved the body. John Tong is where all Autopsies for the government Coroner are held . Its also a Pathologist and forensic science Department. He landed the thing upside downon wat on the very grounds of the State headquarters of the Brisbane City Morgue. No fuel , no worries!
NTSB should fine this pilot heavily for not planing his flight properly and suspend him for a while just to make sure other fliers don’t endanger others due to negligence.
Rich, Randy, Carl and Greg: “What U talk-n bout, Willis; the prior owner didn’t top off the tanks when he/(she) sold me the airplane”!
Are we sure he wasn’t taking a selfie when he should have been fueling the plane?
I say blame it on the selfie.
The rule should be…..”if you run out of fuel, you have to surrender your pilot certificates.”
Also, the pilot should not be afforded insurance coverage because “stupid” should be an exclusionary condition. All other aircraft owners will pay higher premiums because of this accident. We pay the tax for his incompetence.
That is what insurance companies do.
Spread the misery of the stupid onto the competent.
He will live to fly again and make the same mistake, too. Or, he could now sue Cessna for the inadequate design of the 172 fuel system that did hold enough fuel for him.
It’s a 1965 too old to sue Cessna due to GARA , so it has to be the FBO, Line Crew, or a Mechanic’s fault.