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WPR24LA033

2023-11-09 · Baker City, Oregon, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KBKE

Current FAA registration · N418BS

Make / Model
PIPER PA-12
Year of manufacture
1947 · 76 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-290 SERIES (140 hp)
Seats / Engines
3 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19950308
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4F202

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

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

Factual narrative

The pilot reported a total loss of engine power resulting from fuel exhaustion, approximately one mile from the airport. While executing a forced landing in a farm field, a strong crosswind gust raised one wing. The pilot was unable to recover from this since no power authority was available. When the airplane contacted terrain, the landing gear and wingtip struck the ground, and the airplane ground looped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures 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-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_WPR24LA033.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