NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR25LA099
Registry · N4185N
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 140
Year of manufacture
1947 · 78 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES (85 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19550824
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4F4EC
Registrant of record
NEW DANIEL A
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during preflight inspection, the fuel tank gauges both read full, however, he did not visually verify the fuel quantity in the fuel tanks before takeoff. Following an uneventful flight, while on final approach to the runway, the engine suffered a total loss of power. The pilot unsuccessfully attempted to restore engine power before attempting a forced landing on a dirt road. During the forced landing, the airplane impacted trees, fence posts, and terrain, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot stated that after the accident, he observed that the left fuel tank had no fuel, and the right fuel tank contained only a trace amount of fuel. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot
- — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2025_WPR25LA099.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
On the shape of ice stalagmites
The growth of ice stalagmites obtained by the solidification of impacting droplets on a cooled substrate ($-50^{\circ}$C to $-140^{\circ}$C) is investigated experimentally.
- AOPA Air Safety Institute 2023 · Safety advisor
Safety Advisor: Fuel Awareness
AOPA Air Safety Institute safety advisor on preventing fuel-exhaustion and fuel-starvation accidents in general aviation. Covers pre-flight fuel planning, reserve requirements (14 CFR 91.151, 91.167),…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 through 1997
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recorded 8,436 rotorcraft accidents during the period mid - 1963 through the end of 1997.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Particulate Emissions Hazards Associated with Fueling Heat Engines
All hydrocarbon- (HC-) fueled heat engine exhaust (tailpipe) emissions (<10 to 140 nm) contribute as health hazards, including emissions from transportation vehicles (e.g., aircraft) and other HC-fuel…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents
An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safet…
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
Parachuting to Safety
NASA's Langley Research Center awarded Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to research and develop a new, low cost, lightweight recovery system …
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗