Event CEN21LA231

Factual narrative

On April 28, 2021, about 1230 central daylight time, a Cessna 150J, N5578G, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Madison, Arkansas. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, while the airplane was in cruise flight, the engine power reduced to idle. The pilot noted that the engine was still running, but he was unable increase power above idle. He stated that the engine acted as if the throttle control was disconnected. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing to a field. During the forced landing, the airplane’s nose landing gear sunk in the soft ground, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and the right wing. Examination of the accident site revealed no sheen of fuel on the water in the field and a “light” smell of fuel. The recovery crew that moved the airplane from the field reported that “only ounces” of fuel remained in the wing fuel tanks. After the airplane was moved, a subsequent examination was performed, which found no fuel in the gascolator. Also, the carburetor had broken loose from its mount, but the throttle cable remained attached to the carburetor, and movement of the throttle control caused movement of the carburetor butterfly. A weather observation for a nearby airport indicated that the temperature and dew point were 25°C and 20°C, respectively. According to the carburetor icing probability chart in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35, Carburetor Icing Prevention, these temperatures were in the range for serious icing at glide power. The pilot reported that, while the airplane was in cruise flight, the engine power reduced to idle. The pilot noted that the engine was still running but that he was unable to increase power above idle. He stated that the engine acted as if the throttle control was disconnected. The pilot made a forced landing to a field. During the forced landing, the airplane’s nose landing gear sunk in the soft ground, and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed no usable fuel remaining in the wing fuel tanks, no fuel in the gascolator, and no evidence of a fuel spill at the accident site. The throttle control connection was checked; although the carburetor had broken loose from its mount due to impact, evidence indicated that the throttle control was functioning. The temperature and dew point at the time of the accident were conducive for carburetor icing at glide power. However, a power loss during cruise flight and power that rapidly reduces to idle are not consistent with a loss of power due to carburetor icing. Given the available evidence for this investigation, the pilot failed to adequately plan the fuel for the flight which resulted in the airplane’s fuel supply to be exhausted, resulting in a total loss of engine power. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot