NTSB SEA92LA217 — 1992-09-25 · MOAB, Utah, United States

Current FAA registration · N2553N

Make / Model: CESSNA 140
Year of manufacture: 1947 · 45 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES (85 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19570214
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A26CDF

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N2553N Cessna 140 None

Probable cause & findings

THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION RESULTING FROM INACCURATE FUEL CONSUMPTION CALCULATIONS BY THE PILOT. A FACTOR RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE TERRAIN CONDITION (DITCH) IN THE LANDING AREA.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT TOOK OFF ON A VFR X-COUNTRY FLT WITH ONE USEABLE FUEL TANK AND CALCULATED HE HAD ENOUGH FUEL TO REACH THE DESTINATION WITH RESERVE FUEL. HE MADE AN APPROACH TO LAND AT THE DESTINATION, DECIDED TO GO-AROUND, AND THE ENGINE LOST POWER DURING THE TURN TO CROSSWIND. THE PILOT INITIATED A FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD. THE ACFT IMPACTED A DITCH DURING LANDING ROLL AND NOSED OVER. EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT AFTER THE ACCIDENT REVEALED THERE WAS NO USABLE FUEL IN THE TANKS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_SEA92LA217.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion, go-around). All research papers