ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 386186
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| Date: | Monday 26 February 2001 |
| Time: | 12:44 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna 172F |
| Owner/operator: | Flatirons Aviation Corp. |
| Registration: | N8389U |
| MSN: | 17252289 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1964 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 5191 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental O-300-D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Larkspur, CO -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, CO (COS/KCOS) |
| Boulder, CO (1V5) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Shortly after departure, the flight instructor and his student became cold. The heater control was not in the usual position on the instrument panel (both pilots were accustomed to flying later model Cessna 172s). The student located a "white knob" but could not read the nomenclature plate. Believing it was the heater control, he pulled the knob. Approximately 1.5 hours later, the engine lost power. The instructor assumed control of the airplane and turned towards a private airstrip about 2 miles away. He instructed the student to make emergency radio calls and try restarting the engine. Strong headwinds prevented the airplane from gliding to the runway. The airplane stalled and impacted terrain. The airplane had been aloft for 1.7 hours when the engine lost power. Postaccident inspection disclosed the student had inadvertently pulled the fuel strainer control knob instead of the cabin heat control knob. There were no fuel stains on the bottom of the airplane. The fuel strainer control is spring-loaded to the CLOSED position. Examination disclosed the spring was missing. According to the Cessna 172F SERVICING INTERVALS CHECK LIST, the fuel strainer should be disassembled and cleaned every 100 hours. The last 100 hour inspection performed on N8389U was on December 14, 2000, 85.67 hours before the accident.
Probable Cause: the flight instructor inadvertently stalling the airplane during a forced landing. Contributing factors were fuel exhaustion due to inadvertent opening of the fuel drain, lack of familiarity with the airplane, inadequate supervision of the flight, and the missing strainer spring.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB DEN01LA055
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Apr-2024 12:04 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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