N6182U

On June 12, 1997, at 1626 central daylight time, a Cessna 152 airplane, N6182U, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Bridgeport, Texas. The solo student pilot was not injured. The airplane, owned by a private individual, was being operated by the Tyler International School of Aviation, under Title 14 CFR Part 91 at the time of the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional cross country flight from Tyler to Bridgeport, Texas, for which a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Tyler, Texas, at 1220.

According to the operator, the student pilot, who was in the United States on a student visa, had been endorsed by his flight instructor for a round-robin cross country flight from Tyler to Ganesville, to Wichita Falls, to Bridgeport, and return to Tyler (Bridgeport was his planned refueling stop). The student pilot contacted the Fort Worth Flight Service Station (FSS) while en route from Wichita Falls to Bridgeport and reported "that he was lost." The pilot's last radio contact with the FSS was 4 hours and I minute after his departure from Tyler.

The 40-hour student pilot reported that the engine lost power, and he attempted to land in an open pasture about 11 miles northwest of the Bridgeport Municipal Airport. The student pilot further stated that the nose wheel impacted a rock during the landing roll, and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the "nearly inverted position atop a barbed wire fence."

Examination of the wreckage by the FAA inspector and the operator revealed structural damage to the engine mount and the nose landing gear assembly. The top section of both wings sustained substantial damage. Additionally, no evidence of rotational scoring was noted on either propeller blade. During examination of the two wing tanks, approximately 2 gallons of fuel drained from the fuel cells. According to the pilot's operating handbook, the unusable fuel for the 1981 model Cessna 152 is 1.5 gallons.