FTW96LA031
1995-10-29 · BOULDER, Colorado, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF FUEL ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT DURING PREFLIGHT, AND HIS FAILURE TO REFUEL THE AIRCRAFT.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 1995, at 2100 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182TR, N7590R, made a forced landing in a parking lot near Boulder, Colorado. The private pilot received serious injuries and the three passengers were not injured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local area flight operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed Boulder Municipal Airport (1V5) about 2000. The aircraft sustained a total loss of power and the pilot landed the aircraft in a parking lot. The aircraft struck a light pole prior to touch down. The lot was unoccupied at the time of the accident. An on scene investigation was conducted by an FAA airworthiness inspector. Examination of the aircraft provided no evidence of structure or system failure or malfunction and no evidence of fuel was found at the accident site. In addition, the people who recovered the aircraft said they found no evidence of fuel. In an interview with the FAA, the pilot stated that the engine quit due to fuel exhaustion. The operator said that the aircraft had returned from a cross country flight and had not been fueled prior to being rented to the pilot of the accident flight. The amount of fuel aboard at the time this flight departed could not be determined. WHILE ON A LOCAL FLIGHT, A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER OCCURRED AND A FORCED LANDING WAS MADE IN AN UNOCCUPIED PARKING LOT. DURING LANDING, THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK A LIGHT POLE. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED NO FUEL TO BE ABOARD, AND INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE PILOT DID NOT HAVE THE AIRCRAFT FUELED PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1995_FTW96LA031.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
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- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other Parachuting to Safety
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