Cessna 180 accident near Harrisburg, PA
On May 31, 2023, a Cessna 180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Harrisburg, PA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- May 31, 2023
- Place
- Harrisburg, PA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 180 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 40.211°N, 76.876°W
- NTSB ID
- 20230531192274
Official records · ERA23FA252
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Flight Tracks Overview (NTSB): Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn May 31, 2023, at 1435 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 180, N3178D, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The airline transport pilot was seriously injured, and the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. On the day of the accident, the pilot departed, Farmers Pride Airport (9N7), Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, about 0815 on a 3-leg, cross-country flight. Before the pilot’s departure from 9N7, the airport owner observed the pilot servicing his airplane with fuel. ADS-B track data and photographs provided from the pilot’s cellular telephone revealed that, after departing 9N7, he flew for about 1.2 hours before landing and parking the airplane about 0930 at Brokenstraw Airport (P15), Pittsfield, Pennsylvania. The airport’s owner recalled seeing a “Cessna 180 or 185” and was certain that the airplane was not serviced with fuel. The airplane departed P15 about 1028 and flew for about 1.2 hours before the pilot landed and parked at a private grass strip in Rowlesburg, West Virginia. In a telephone conversation, the property owner said that he was not on the property that day, but that fuel was not available at his airstrip. The airplane departed the grass strip on the final leg of the flight about 1324. The pilot was receiving visual flight rules flight following services when he announced his intention to divert to Capital City Airport (CXY), about 9 statute miles ahead of the airplane along its route of flight, and about 3
Probable cause
The pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent collision with terrain and objects.
More accidents in PA
- Boeing B-737-300, Sep 8, 1994
- Boeing 757, Sep 11, 2001
- British Aerospace J-3101, May 21, 2000
- Bell UH-1N, May 29, 2008
- Beech A36, Jul 30, 1989
Browse: Pennsylvania · 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.
