Event WPR18LA246

Factual narrative

On August 30, 2018, at 1902 Pacific daylight time a Cessna 140, N2167V, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Tehachapi, California. The private pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot stated that during the preflight inspection, she utilized a dipstick and determined that the left fuel tank was empty and the right tank contained 4 gallons of fuel. She taxied the airplane to the fuel pumps, but upon arrival, discovered that they were inoperative. Based on fuel consumption during previous flights, she concluded that she had enough fuel for 30 minutes of flight, and decided to proceed with the flight and remain in the traffic pattern for runway 29. The pilot performed a series of touch-and-go takeoff and landings. About 20 minutes into the flight, during the fifth landing roll, she decided to perform one more takeoff. Shortly after rotation, about 50 ft above ground level, the engine lost total power. With limited runway available, and hangars to the left and a busy highway to the right, she decided to attempt a 180° left turn back to the runway. During the turn, the airplane struck the adjacent taxiway to the south, its left main landing gear collapsed, and it came to rest left wing down. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the high-wing airplane was manufactured in 1947 and purchased by the pilot in May 2018. It was originally equipped with a Continental C-90 engine and refitted with a Continental O-200-A engine in October 2000. The airplane was equipped with 12 ½-gallon fuel tanks in each wing, both fitted with a mechanical direct reading fuel quantity gauge, installed at the wing roots and visible within the cabin. The fuel gauges were placarded with graduations noting F [full], 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4 tank capacity. The area below the 1/4 marking was shaded red in color with the marking, "NO TAKE OFF." Fuel was gravity-fed from the tanks to a tank selector valve mounted on the cabin floor. The selector valve provided settings for fuel flow from either the right or left tank, shut-off, and a "both" position to provide fuel flow from both tanks simultaneously. The tanks were interconnected with a vent line. Due to the vintage of the airplane, limited operational and performance details were available, and useable fuel and fuel consumption with the equipped O-200-A engine could not be confirmed. According to the 1969 Cessna 150(J) Owner's Manual, the Continental O-200-A engine consumed between 3.0 and 6.4 gallons of fuel per hour while flying at an altitude of 5,000 feet msl. The manual estimated the fuel used during takeoff and climb at sea level was 0.6 gallons, and 1.6 gallons from sea level to 5,000 ft. The climb consumption included allowances for engine warm-up and takeoff. An FAA inspector and an A&P mechanic examined the airplane following the accident. They did not observe any indications of pre-accident mechanical failure, and the fuel selector valve appeared set to the right tank. During the examination, they drained about 4 1/2 gallons of total fuel from the airplane, 3 gallons of which they determined was from the right tank. During the preflight inspection, the pilot determined that the left fuel tank was empty and the right tank contained 4 gallons of fuel (capacity 12 1/2 gallons). After discovering that the airport fuel pumps were inoperative, the pilot decided to proceed with the flight and remain in the airport traffic pattern. The pilot performed a series of touch-and-go takeoff and landings and during the initial climb phase of the fifth takeoff, the engine lost total power. The pilot attempted a 180° turn back to the runway, during which the airplane impacted the taxiway, resulting in substantial damage. Due to the airplane's vintage, operational and performance details such as fuel consumption and unusable fuel quantity were unavailable; however, a placard on the fuel gauges indicated that takeoff should not be attempted if the tank was filled to just under 1/4 of its capacity. It is likely that the airplane consumed the remainder of the usable fuel during the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the 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).

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