ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 223973
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| Date: | Saturday 13 April 2019 |
| Time: | 22:15 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna 172N Skyhawk |
| Owner/operator: | N5296H LLC |
| Registration: | N5296H |
| MSN: | 17269408 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2857 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-H2AD |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Valley Stream, NE of JFK International Airport (KJFK), New York -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Niagara Falls International Airport, NY (IAG/KIAG) |
| Farmingdale-Republic Airport, NY (FRG/KFRG) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot filed an instrument flight rules flight plan with an estimated en route time of 3.5 hours; however, air traffic control revised his route during the flight, which added an additional 40 to 50 minutes to the total flight time. Upon arrival at the destination airport in night instrument meteorological conditions, the pilot attempted three precision instrument approaches before diverting to a larger airport, where he performed two additional approaches, both of which he terminated and conducted missed approaches due to the weather conditions. During the third approach to the larger airport, the airplane's fuel supply was exhausted, and the engine lost all power. The pilot pitched the airplane for its best glide speed; about 100 ft above the ground, he saw streetlights and attempted to land on the road below. The airplane impacted a building and power lines and came to rest suspended in the power lines a few feet above the ground.
Postaccident examination revealed that the fuel tanks were void of fuel. Examination of the airframe, engine, and the vacuum system found no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot had accrued about 80 flight hours of simulated instrument flight experience, and 1 hour of flight experience in actual instrument meteorological conditions with a flight instructor. The accident flight was his first acting as a pilot-in-command while in instrument meteorological conditions.
Weather forecasts for the destination airport and surrounding airports issued before the flight departed projected low instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions at the estimated time of arrival. However, the pilot did not obtain a formal weather briefing before the accident flight. The pilot reported that he was aware of the bad weather before takeoff but decided to complete the flight because one of the passengers had to make an international trip the following day. It is likely that this external pressure contributed to the pilot's decision to attempt the accident flight regardless of the weather conditions.
Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to initiate a flight into low instrument flight rules conditions, which resulted in six missed approaches at two airports and a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the external pressure the pilot felt to complete the accident flight despite the poor weather conditions.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N5296H
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5296H
NTSB ERA19LA150
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 16 March 1990 | N737GN | Lewis University | 0 | Rock Falls, IL | |
sub |
Location
Images:
Photo: FAA
Media:
The pilot of a Cessna 172 that crashed after running out of fuel in a New York suburb Sunday night, had a lucky escape as the aircraft became suspended by power cables a foot from the ground. https://t.co/g6WuRqZpZc pic.twitter.com/IqbDXUV835
— Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) 15 avril 2019
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2019 04:07 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 15-Apr-2019 06:07 | Geno | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 15-Apr-2019 06:48 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Apr-2019 06:49 | RobertMB | Updated [Location] |
| 15-Apr-2019 18:20 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative] |
| 15-Apr-2019 21:08 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Location, Embed code] |
| 28-Mar-2021 18:51 | harro | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Destination airport, Embed code] |
| 29-Mar-2021 09:45 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
| 29-Mar-2021 12:13 | harro | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, Photo] |
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