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Atlas / NTSB / ATL97LA081

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL97LA081

1997-06-05 N. MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina, United States Airport · CRE None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate pre-flight inspection which resulted in fuel exhaustion and total loss of engine power. A factor was the soft terrain at the emergency landing site.

Factual narrative

On June 5, 1997, about 1830 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172I, N5124G, collapsed the nose landing gear and nosed over during an emergency landing near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The airplane was operated by the Shell Aviation Services, Inc., under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. A flight plan was not filed for the business flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. There were no injuries to the commercial pilot, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Origination of the flight was the Horry County Airport, Conway, South Carolina, at an undetermined time, on the same date. According to the FAA inspector who visited the accident site, the pilot reported that the airplane's fuel supply was exhausted, resulting in a loss of engine power, forced landing, and subsequent damage to the airplane. The inspector reported that the pilot stated he did not check the fuel quantity in the airplane prior to beginning the flight. While in cruise flight, the engine quit. A forced landing was made to a soft field resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear and the airplane nosing over onto its back. The pilot reported that he did not check the fuel quantity in the airplane prior to departing for the flight. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1997_ATL97LA081.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.