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WPR23LA051

2022-11-26 · Lake Havasu, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N/A

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection and fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent landing on rough terrain.

Factual narrative

The pilot of the weight-shift aircraft reported that, he was out for a pleasure flight and ran out of fuel and was forced to land on desert terrain. During the landing, the aircraft collided with vegetation which substantially damaged the fuselage. The pilot reported that a better preflight would have prevented this accident. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2022_WPR23LA051.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers