Cessna 172E N5420T accident near Plano, Texas

Probable cause

A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate fuel planning.

NTSB analysis

While en route to his destination airport, the pilot of the single-engine airplane encountered a loss of engine power. Unable to reach the destination airport, he performed a forced landing to a golf course. On the landing roll-out the airplane entered a sand bunker, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. The pilot later reported that he departed with 17 gallons of fuel in the airplane's fuel tanks and estimated that he used 8 gallons en route to his destination. During removal of the airplane from the accident scene, about 3 gallons of fuel was found in the fuel tanks, consistent with the amount of unusable fuel in a Cessna 172E. No evidence of a fuel leak was discovered, and no fuel was found in the sand bunker where the airplane came to rest. During a test run, the airplane's engine was started and ran at various power settings; no abnormalities were noted.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN09LA143 for the full record.