Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to refuel the aircraft prior to initiating his cross-country flight resulting in a total power loss due to fuel exhaustion.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot stated that he had flown the airplane approximately 1.5 hours since its most recent refueling two days previously. About 2 hours 20 minutes after departing moab, the airplane ran out of fuel. The airplane struck a pole during a forced landing into a school yard.
Source record
Factual narrative
On July 30, 1995, approximately 1150 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150, N61284, collided with a pole during a forced landing near West Jordan, Utah. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Moab, Utah, about two hours and twenty minutes earlier, was en route to Bountiful, Utah, at the time of the accident. The aircraft was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. According to the pilot, he had not topped off his fuel tanks prior to departing Moab, and he ran out of fuel attempting to reach the Bountiful Airport. Prior to the date of this flight, he had flown the airplane approximately 1.5 hours since it had been fueled. During an attempted forced landing in a nearby school yard, the aircraft collided with poles supporting playground equipment. -