Event CEN24LA002

Factual narrative

On October 1, 2023, about 1302 central standard time, a Cessna 182R airplane, N357HT, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Olathe, Kansas. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot entered the traffic pattern at Johnson County Airport (OJC), Olathe, Kansas, checked that the mixture was full rich, and advanced the propeller to high rpm. When he turned onto final approach, he added engine power because he was too low; however, there was no engine response to his throttle input, and the airplane continued to descend. The airplane touched down just short of the runway, flipped over when the nosewheel contacted the approach end of the runway surface, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, vertical stabilizer, and engine mount. In an initial phone interview with the pilot, he stated that he sumped the fuel tanks at Newton City Airport (EWK), Newton, Kansas before departing for OJC, but did not check the amount of fuel in each tank. Later, when the pilot filled out the NTSB Form 6120.1, he stated that he had 70 gallons of fuel on board the airplane. He also said that prior to leaving EWK, he refueled with 20 gallons of fuel (10 gallons per side.) An email from the airport manager at EWK confirmed that the airplane was filled with 20 gallons of fuel (10 each side). During recovery, the fuel tanks were drained; the right tank had 45 gallons, and the left tank had none. There were no breaches in the fuel tanks or fuel leaking onto the runway. According to the airplane manufacturer’s pilot operating handbook, each fuel tank holds 46 gallons of fuel, and 44 gallons is usable fuel for a total of 88 gallons of useable fuel. The pilot stated that he turned the fuel selector valve to the off position after the accident, so fuel selector valve position before the accident could not be verified. According to ADS-B data, the flight from EWK to OJC was about 1 hour long. Performance charts from the Cessna 182R pilot operating handbook were utilized to determine fuel burn for the flight. The pilot departed on a 1 hour flight. When the airplane was on final approach at the destination airport, the pilot added power because the airplane was losing altitude. However, the engine did not respond to the increase in throttle and continued to sink. The airplane landed just short of the runway, flipped over, and came to rest inverted which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot turned the fuel selector valve to the off position immediately after the accident, so fuel selector position before the accident could not be confirmed. There was no fuel leaking out of the fuel tanks, and there was no fuel on the runway. Neither wing fuel tank was breached and when the wing tanks were drained following the accident, the right fuel tank had about 45 gallons of fuel and the left fuel tank was empty. According to the manufacturer’s pilot operating handbook (POH), each tank holds 46 gallons of fuel of which 44 gallons is usable fuel. The fuel tanks, fuel system, and engine were examined after the accident and no mechanical failures or malfunctions were found that would have precluded normal operation. Before departing for the 1 hour flight, the airplane was fueled with 20 gallons of fuel (10 gallons per side). The pilot said that with the 20 added gallons of fuel, he estimated that the plane had about 70 gallons (35 gallons per side) when he departed. Performance calculations revealed that total fuel consumed for the accident flight would have been between 9.3 to 13.4 gallons of fuel. If the airplane had 70 gallons of fuel when it departed, there should have been about 56 to 60 gallons of fuel remaining (28 to 30 gallons per side). Based on the left tank having no fuel in it after the accident and the right tank being full, it is likely that the pilot was operating on only the left fuel tank for several flights. When he departed on the accident flight, the left tank was filled with 10 gallons of fuel, which was about the amount the engine would have burned during the 1 hour flight.. 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).

• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Effect on equipment
• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management