Probable cause
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to ensure that adequate fuel was onboard to complete the flight.
NTSB analysis
The pilot believed he took off with 14 gallons of fuel aboard, and flew toward his destination, 170 miles away. He calculated that the fight should take 1 hour 40 minutes. En route he noticed that fuel was disappearing quickly, and assumed there was a headwind. After 1 hour 40 minutes, the airplane ran out of fuel, 57 statute miles from his destination, and the pilot landed in the desert. At a fuel consumption rate of 5.3 gallons per hour, the total actual fuel aboard at the time of takeoff was most likely 9 gallons.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for LAX08CA166 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Jun 7, 2008
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Kykotsmovi, Arizona
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Piper PA-38-112
- N-number
- N9276T
- Category
- Airplane
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.