N4729U

On March 25, 2020, about 1830 central daylight time, a Cessna 150E airplane, N4729U, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident after departing Aero Country Airport (T31), McKinney, Texas. 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, he performed a preflight inspection with no anomalies noted and confirmed 14 gallons of fuel onboard by using a dipstick, which would have yielded about 1.5 hours of flight time with a 30-minute reserve. He departed T31 about 1730 and flew 26 miles north to an airport for three touch-and-go landings. The pilot then flew back to T31 and completed three more touch-and-go landings. He reported that before the final landing, the fuel gauges indicated 1/4 tank and 1/8 tank of fuel. On climb out from the final touch-and-go, about 200 ft above ground level, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot advanced the throttle and mixture controls full forward and turned off the carburetor heat, but the engine did not respond. The pilot made a forced landing to a golf course, during which the airplane collided with a tee box and nosed over.

Figure 1 shows the accident airplane on the golf course after it had been flipped upright. The wings are slightly damaged but remained attached to the fuselage and the fuel caps are still installed.

Figure 1 – The accident airplane upright on the golf course.

The pilot reported that fuel was leaking from the fuel tank caps while the airplane was inverted and when the airplane was recovered to a hangar at T31, about 3 gallons of fuel were drained from the fuel tanks.

According to the airplane owner's manual, the fuel tanks hold a total of 26 gallons with 3.5 gallons unusable (1.75 gallons per tank).

A postaccident examination was completed by a mechanic with oversight provided by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. The inspector noted that 2 to 3 gallons of fuel were found in a container, which held the fuel previously drained from the tanks. The fuel strainer and its attached fuel line remained attached to the firewall and were undamaged. The strainer, fuel lines, and carburetor did not contain any fuel and were completely dry and clear of contaminants. The examination did not reveal any other preaccident anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.