31 Oct 2021: CESSNA 177 — SHERMAN DENNIS E

31 Oct 2021: CESSNA 177 (N29615) — SHERMAN DENNIS E

No fatalities • Hudson Oaks, TX, United States

Probable cause

The partial loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing was the pilot’s improper fuel planning.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On October 30, 2021, about 1910 central daylight time, a Cessna 177 airplane, N29615, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Parker County Airport (WEA), Weatherford, Texas. The pilot and four passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The flight departed from Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport (GOK), Guthrie, Oklahoma, about 1733 and was destined for WEA. The pilot stated that the flight was uneventful until the airplane was descending from 10,500 ft mean sea level for landing. At that time, engine power was reduced, carburetor heat was applied, the mixture was enrichened, and the pilot “cleared” the engine by adding and reducing power periodically. The pilot reported that the descent was then “entirely normal” until the last 15 to 20 seconds of flight. The pilot stated that he added “a slight amount” of power, but the engine did not respond. The pilot attempted to restore engine power but was unsuccessful. While maneuvering for a forced landing, the airplane collided with power lines and terrain, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, right wing, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that a sudden loss of engine power (stop or change in rpm) did not occur and that the engine ”simply stopped responding to throttle inputs.” Postaccident examination of the accident site found that the airplane tanks did not appear to contain fuel and that fuel had not leaked from the tanks. The pilot reported that the airplane should have contained at least 10 gallons of fuel. Postaccident examination of the airplane and engine was conducted. Accident damage to the engine section prevented documentation of the throttle cable’s full range of travel. The cabling remained properly attached to the carburetor, and no restriction to the throttle arm was noted. No preimpact anomalies were found with the airframe or engine. The pilot mentioned that carburetor icing could have caused the loss of engine power during the accident flight. A review of the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart located in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35, Carburetor Icing Prevention, dated June 30, 2009, showed that the conditions in which the airplane was operating were conducive to the formation of serious icing at glide power.

Contributing factors

  • Pilot
  • Pilot
  • Fluid level
  • Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 130/04kt

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.