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WPR25LA099

2025-02-09 · Salome, Arizona, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 2AZ1

Current FAA registration · N4185N

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

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

FAA avdata. C = Cause, 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 ↗.

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