Primary finding
Probable cause
The inadequate preflight preparation by the pilot-in-command. A factor in the accident was the encounter with unsuitable terrain during the emergency descent.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The student pilot attempted cross country flight without filling acft fuel tanks, as directed by flight instructor. The instructor told the NTSB he believed the aircraft had less than 3 hours fuel on departure. The student pilot flew 2.5 hours including intermediate pattern work when the engine experienced a complete power loss during go-around at destination. The forced landing resulted in a nose over in tundra within the airport boundary.
Source record
Factual narrative
On June 23, 1993, at approximately 1750 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 150 airplane, N23224, crashed after engine power loss at Nondalton Airport, Alaska. The student pilot had departed King Salmon, Alaska, at 1523 on a VFR flight plan on a solo cross country instructional flight under 14 CFR Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions. The student pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The instructor pilot told investigators that he had advised the student to "fuel up the airplane" before departing King Salmon, but that later the student told him that the "fuel gauges showed above 3/4 full, so he didn't fuel before leaving." The instructor also told investigators that the airplane had flown 1.1 hours prior to the accident flight without refueling. The instructor told investigators that he believed the airplane "would have had less than 3 hours of gas" when it departed King Salmon. The airplane flew approximately 2 hours and 27 minutes, a flight which included a touch and go executed at an intermediate airport. The route of flight from King Salmon to Dillingham and to Nondalton was under the influence of low level easterly winds of 15 to 25 knots on the day of the accident flight. The student pilot described the power loss to be "the engine just died" while climbing after a low pass to examine the landing surface at Nondalton. An emergency descent to the tundra near the airport ended in a nose over crash. Due to the remote location of the accident site from the NTSB Anchorage office and the lack of readily available FAA resources, investigators were unable to determine the amount of fuel in the airplane's fuel system. Upon discussion with FAA representatives in Anchorage, the airplane was released to the owner/operator. -