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DEN06CA029

2005-12-31 · Hobbs, New Mexico, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HOB

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot's failure to visually verify the fuel quantity in the fuel tanks prior to departure. Contributing factors include the pilot's inadequate preflight, and the transmission wires.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated that he "ran out of fuel" on final approach. The airplane landing gear became entangled in a power line during the emergency decent and the airplane impacted the ground. The private pilot and his passenger both sustained broken bones. The engine was crushed aft into the firewall, and the right main gear crushed up into the floorboard. The right wing, inboard of the wing tip was wrinkled, and the empennage was wrinkled aft of the right fuselage door. An examination of the airplane's systems revealed no anomalies. According to the pilot, he "ran out of fuel" on final approach. The airplane's landing gear became entangled in a power line during the emergency descent and the airplane impacted the ground causing substantial damage to the airplane and serious injury to the pilot and passenger. An examination of the airplane's systems revealed no anomalies. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2005_DEN06CA029.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.