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WPR23LA115

2023-02-24 · Mulino, Oregon, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 4S9

Current FAA registration · N8500Z

Make / Model
AIRCRAFT MFG & DEVELOPMENT CO CH 2000
Year of manufacture
2002 · 21 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-235 SERIES (115 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20020616
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ABA9C8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, he departed with 28 gallons of fuel onboard for a cross-country flight and he used 100% power during the flight. The flight was uneventful for a little over four hours, until the pilot was approaching his destination and the engine began to run rough and sputter. The pilot was unable to reach a nearby airport and force-landed the airplane in an open field where the nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot and a law enforcement examined the fuel tank and discovered that the fuel tank was empty. Fuel usage computations indicated the engine likely consumed all the fuel onboard while operating at 100% power. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane 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
  • — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR23LA115.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