Cessna 177 accident near Hot Springs, AR
On June 26, 2023, a Cessna 177 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Hot Springs, AR. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- June 26, 2023
- Place
- Hot Springs, AR
- Aircraft
- Cessna 177 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 34.467°N, 93.115°W
- NTSB ID
- 20230626192442
Official records · CEN23FA258
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 26, 2023, about 0805 central daylight time (CDT), a Cessna 177 airplane, N3138T, was substantially damaged during an accident near Hot Springs, Arkansas. The pilot was fatally injured and the passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal cross-country flight. According to the passenger, the pilot had recently purchased the airplane and they were flying it to their home base near Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The cross-country flight began from Las Cruces International Airport (LRU), Las Cruces, New Mexico, after a new interior was installed. On June 25, 2023, about 1435 (all times referenced as CDT), the cross-country flight departed LRU with the intended destination of Avenger Field Airport (SWW), Sweetwater, Texas. The flight landed at SWW about 1753 after being airborne for at least 3.3 hours. The passenger stated that despite the airplane being flown with the fuel selector set to both, the right fuel gauge indicated “empty” and the left fuel gauge indicated about “3/4” tank remaining after the flight from LRU to SWW. The passenger reported that the pilot refueled the airplane while at SWW. According to a fueling receipt, 25.8 gallons of 100 low-lead fuel were dispensed using the self-serve fuel pump at SWW. The passenger recalled that the airplane’s fuel tanks were completely full before the airplane departed SWW. According to flight track data, about 1849 the airplane departed SWW enroute to Memorial Field Airport (HOT), Hot Springs, Arkansas, as the intended destinat
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper preflight fuel planning and inflight fuel mismanagement, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and his subsequent failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the forced landing, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an aerodynamic stall at a low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s
More accidents in AR
- Beech 65-A80, May 16, 2005
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- Grumman G1159, Jan 19, 1990
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Browse: Arkansas · 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.
