FTW94LA039 · Cessna R172K
Cessna R172K · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route
From Scottsdale Airport (SDL) to Telluride Regional Airport (TEX)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW94LA039
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna R172K
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N8833T
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Scottsdale Airport (SDL), Scottsdale, AZTo Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), Telluride, CO
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Fuel exhaustion
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Fluid, fuel › Exhaustion
- Pilot in command › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
WHILE IN CRUISE THE ENGINE LOST POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. DURING THE FORCED LANDING TO THE ONLY AVAILABLE BUT UNSUITABLE TERRAIN THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A TREE. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT'S REPORT, HIS PRE-FLIGHT EXAMINATION VERIFIED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS FUELED TO CAPACITY PRIOR TO HIS CHECKOUT AND POSITIONING FLIGHT FROM PHOENIX TO SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA. HE DEPARTED SCOTTSDALE THE NEXT MORNING AT 0520 PST. THE ENGINE LOST POWER APPROXIMATELY 0950 MST. THE PILOT SAID HE SHOULD HAVE HAD 5.7 GALLONS REMAINING AFTER LANDING AT THE DESTINATION (TELLURIDE AIRPORT). HOWEVER, COMPANY OFFICIALS SAID THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT FUELED TO CAPACITY AND THAT 3.0 GALLONS PER TANK (6.0 GALLONS TOTAL) WERE ROUTINELY WITHHELD TO PREVENT FUEL EXPANSION AND VENTING. THE PILOT SAID THAT 'LOOKING AT THE FUEL GAUGES IS PART OF MY SCAN, WHICH I RUN THROUGH EVERY FEW SECONS DURING A FLIGHT.' AN FAA INSPECTOR FOUND NO FUEL IN THE RIGHT TANK, VERY LITTLE FUEL IN THE LEFT TANK, AND RESIDUAL FUEL IN THE SUMPS AND GASCOLATOR.
Probable cause
FUEL EXHAUSTION INDUCED POWER LOSS AND THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION, DURING WHICH HE FAILED TO INSURE THAT THE AIRPLANE HAD BEEN REFUELED TO CAPACITY. A FACTOR WAS THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR A FORCED LANDING.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW94LA039
- Event ID
- 20001211X13739
- Case number
- FTW94LA039
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 9ae00f8d45a1767b2d838772c03c7bf1e67a199b76b6102fbe34dbbc91727544; retrieved 2026-09-21T22:45:15.314Z.