Cessna 172E accident near Bay City, TX
On April 13, 2001, a Cessna 172E (airplane) was involved in an accident near Bay City, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 13, 2001
- Place
- Bay City, TX
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172E · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 29.114°N, 95.953°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010417X00768
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 12, 2001, at 2146 central daylight time, a Cessna 172E airplane, N5638T, was destroyed when it impacted terrain during an emergency descent following a total loss of engine power near Bay City, Texas. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. The instrument rated private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained fatal injuries. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The cross-country flight originated from the Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport, Alpine, Texas, at an unknown time, with an intermediate fuel stop at the Kimble County Airport, Junction, Texas, and was destined for the Bay City Municipal Airport, Bay City Texas. According to witnesses, the flight departed Alpine en route to Bay City, and made a fuel stop at Junction. According to a fuel receipt from the Junction airport, at 1747, 27.1 gallons of aviation grade fuel (100LL) were added to the airplane's fuel tanks. Approximately 1800, the pilot called his wife, who was in Bay City, and informed her that he had just refueled and would be arriving in Bay City between 2030 and 2100. According to radar data, at 1759:03 the airplane departed Junction. The radar data revealed that that the airplane flew an easterly heading from Junction to a point approximately 10 miles west of the Sugarland Municipal Airport, Houston, Texas. The airplane then turned to a southerly heading toward Lake Jackson, Texas (located in the vicinity of the destination airport in Bay City)
Probable cause
the pilot's delay in taking remedial action (contacting ATC) after he became lost/disoriented during a night cross country flight, which resulted in a forced landing due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing factors to the accident were the pilot's failure to contact a flight service station for a weather briefing, the low clouds and dark night light conditions.
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Browse: Texas · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
