NTSB GAA15CA209 — 2015-07-30 · Tallahassee, Florida, United States

Aircraft involved

N93582 Bellanca 17 30A None

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a forced landing on a road where the left wing impacted vegetation and sustained substantial damage.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while on a cross county flight, "it appears that I ran out of fuel and was forced to land on a road nearby and adjacent to the approach end of an active runway." During the landing roll, the left wing impacted a bush, and the airplane departed the road to the left into a ditch. The left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that while on a cross county flight, "it appears that I ran out of fuel and was forced to land on a road nearby and adjacent to the approach end of an active runway." During the landing roll, the left wing impacted a bush, and the airplane departed the road to the left into a ditch. The left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_GAA15CA209.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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