Cessna 172E accident near Bay City, Texas, April 13, 2001
On April 13, 2001 at about 2:46 am local time, a Cessna 172E, registered N5638T, was destroyed in an accident near Bay City, Texas (Baycity Municipal airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the pilot's delay in taking remedial action (contacting ATC) after he became lost/disoriented during a night cross country flight, which resulted in a forced landing due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing factors to the accident were the pilot's failure to contact a flight service station for a weather briefing, the low clouds and dark night light conditions.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 13, 2001 · about 2:46 am local time
- Place
- Bay City, Texas · Baycity Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172E · all 172Es on the register
- Registration
- N5638T · no longer on the register · serial 17251538
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The night cross country visual flight rules flight had been airborne for 3 hours and 37 minutes when the instrument rated pilot reported to a local flight service station (FSS) that he had 10 minutes of fuel on board, and was disoriented. The FSS connected the pilot with the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, who provided radar vectors to the nearest airport. However, 10 minutes later the pilot reported that he had run out of fuel and, subsequently, the final radar return was received. The airplane impacted a fence and trees 10 miles north of the destination airport. Review of the radar track revealed that, during the final 36 minutes of the flight, the airplane was not maintaining a constant altitude and had been making "S" turns, 360-degree turns, and at one point had flown past the destination airport. Marginal visual meteorological conditions and patchy instrument meteorological conditions existed near the accident site and destination airport. There was no record of the pilot having received a weather briefing from a flight service station prior to or during the flight. The airplane was examined and the integrity of the fuel system was confirmed. Further examination of the fuel system revealed that only unusable fuel was present in the fuel system. No anomalies were found with the airframe or engine that would have precluded operation of the airplane.
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
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,500 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,329.6 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, March 30, 2001; 8.5 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-300-D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: JCT Junction TX at 10:59 pm
- Destination: 3R1 Baycity TX
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 2,800 ft
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 29.95 inHg
- Observation at 2:53 am from LBX, 20 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N5638T the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.