N6135MCessna 152 · 1980

On January 17, 2016, at 1945 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N6135M, experienced a total loss of engine power and was unable to make the Madison Municipal Airport (52A), Madison, Georgia. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing to a road and struck a telephone pole with the left wing. The commercial pilot and the passenger were both seriously injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall, left wing, and fuselage. The airplane was registered to a private company and operated by Florida Flyers Flight Academy under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual flight rules conditions existed near the accident site at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed for the flight that originated from the Northeast Florida Regional Airport (SGJ), St. Augustine, Florida, about 1600, and was destined for the Gwinnett County - Briscoe Field Airport (LZU), Lawrenceville, Georgia.

The pilot stated that he rented an airplane from his employer for the purpose of flying to his home in Georgia. As part of his pre-flight planning, he obtained the weather along the route of flight, which included a 20 knot headwind, and prepared a flight plan using Foreflight. The pilot said he visually checked each fuel tank before the flight and verified they were topped off for a total of 26 gallons (24.5 usable). He said he had sufficient fuel onboard for the 275.6 nautical mile flight and did not plan to stop for fuel.

The pilot and his passenger departed St. Augustine at 1600 and climbed to an altitude of 5,500 ft. He said the flight was normal and when he was about 50 miles from Lawrenceville, he descended to 3,500 ft. Once level at the new altitude, and about 3.5 hours into the flight, the pilot noticed that the engine began to run rough. He turned on the carburetor heat, which seemed to restore power. The pilot contacted air traffic control and began a diversion to Madison. While en route to Madison, the engine ran rough again and lost power. The pilot trimmed the airplane for best glide speed and made several attempts to re-start the engine, but to no avail. The pilot realized he was not going to make the airport in Madison and made a forced landing to a road. The pilot did not recall what occurred after he landed. He said that he and his passenger were wearing there seatbelt and shoulder harnesses, but still sustained serious facial injuries.

The pilot said that before takeoff he noted that the fuel gauges both indicated full. The last time he saw the fuel gauge was about an hour into the flight, when the right fuel gauge was "on empty" and the left fuel gauge indicated it was just below the "full" mark. The pilot said he had flown this airplane numerous times and this was a normal indication for the airplane. When asked what he thought caused the engine to lose power, he said, "It was most likely fuel starvation." When asked if he ran out of gas, he replied, "yes."

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident and observed that both of the airplane's fuel tanks were empty. According to an employee of the company that recovered the airplane, he stated that both wing tanks were intact and completely empty of any fuel. He also stated the firewall was wrinkled, the nose gear was bent aft, the right main landing gear had separated, and the left wing exhibited leading edge impact damage. There was no damage to the right wing.

A representative of Florida Flyers stated the airplane was fueled on the morning of the accident with 17.1 gallons of 100LL and was not flown until the accident flight.

The Cessna 152 Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) states that with this fuel tank configuration (26 total gallons / 24.5 gallons usable fuel) the airplane has about 3.1 hours of fuel endurance at cruise power.

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate for airplane single and multi-engine land airplane, and instrument airplane. He was also a certified flight instructor for airplane single-engine land and held a type rating for a SA-227 airplane. His last FAA first-class medical was issued on March 11, 2015, with a restriction to wear corrective lenses.

Weather at LZU, about 33 miles northwest of the accident site, at 1945, was reported as calm wind, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 7 degrees C, dewpoint 0 degrees C, and a barometric pressure setting of 29.85 inches of Hg.