Cessna 150F accident near Muskegon, Michigan, October 5, 1998
On October 5, 1998, a Cessna 150F, registered N8655S, was substantially damaged in an accident near Muskegon, Michigan. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). The NTSB record does not give the injuries. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
poor in-flight planning by an unqualified person which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor was the swamp in which the forced landing was made.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 5, 1998
- Place
- Muskegon, Michigan · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Cessna 150F · all 150Fs on the register
- Registration
- N8655S · no longer on the register · serial 15061955
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was stolen from the Michigan City Airport, Michigan City, Indiana, between October 4 and October 6, 1998. It was located on October 24, 1998, in a swamp in Muskegon, Michigan. Inspection of the wreckage revealed fuel exhaustion. According to the hobbs meter the airplane was flown four hours after being stolen. A suspect was arrested on December 14, 1998.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Medical certificate: Unknown
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,400 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, December 12, 1997; 50 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,600 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-200-A (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Michigan City IN
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.