ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 234989
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| Date: | Saturday 11 April 2020 |
| Time: | 19:25 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna A185E Skywagon |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N185RN |
| MSN: | 185-1417 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1968 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1966 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO-550-D (2) |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Eagle River, AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Tyonek , AK |
| Eagle River, AK | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot-rated passenger reported that, during approach for landing, the engine of the float-equipped Skywagon lost total power. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing; however, the airplane aerodynamically stalled short of the lake and impacted the ground.
Upon arrival, first responders reported minimal fuel leaking from the airplane and negligible evidence of a fuel spill. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of preexisting malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The passenger stated the pilot did not add fuel the day of the accident or check the fuel quantity visually before departing on the accident flight and that the pilot relied on the fuel totalizer to determine fuel onboard. Although the fuel totalizer indicated there was 7.7 gallons of fuel remaining at the time of the accident, the accuracy of the fuel totalizer requires accurate estimates of the fuel onboard the airplane to be reliable. The investigation could not determine the amount of fuel onboard prior to the accident flight. However, assuming the pilot had full fuel onboard when he last departed the airfield he commonly refueled at, fuel burn computations were consistent with the airplane consuming all usable fuel onboard at the time of the accident. It is likely the engine consumed fuel at a higher rate than the pilot planned for, and the engine lost all power due to fuel exhaustion.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to ensure adequate fuel onboard prior to the planned flight, resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and an aerodynamic stall during the subsequent emergency landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's reliance on an improperly programmed fuel totalizer.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB ANC20LA043
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=185RN
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Apr-2020 06:27 | gerard57 | Added |
| 12-Apr-2020 06:27 | gerard57 | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Apr-2020 07:15 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Apr-2020 08:14 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location] |
| 12-Apr-2020 15:28 | Geno | Updated [Source] |
| 12-Apr-2020 19:01 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 20-Jun-2021 18:56 | aaronwk | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jul-2022 13:38 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
| 01-Jul-2022 14:18 | harro | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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