Event CEN25LA301

Factual narrative

The pilot was planning an evening flight in the local area. The engine run-up, takeoff, and initial portion of the flight were normal. About 20 minutes after takeoff, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restore engine power by switching fuel tanks; however, those efforts were unsuccessful. He subsequently executed a forced landing to a road and during the rollout, the right wing impacted a tree. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. A postaccident examination revealed a small amount of fuel remained in the left fuel tank, and the right tank contained less than one quart of fuel. The fuel tanks and fuel system were not compromised. The pilot reported checking the airplane fuel quantity before the flight using the cockpit gauges which indicated near full. He acknowledged that the fuel quantity was not visually checked during the preflight inspection, and that he relied solely on the fuel gauges. He added that the fuel gauges were unreliable in the past, and the fuel sender units had been replaced; however, the fuel gauges continued to “wobble significantly” after the sender units were replaced. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Inadequate inspection
• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot