What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
During cruise flight with tail winds privacy data omitted determined his fuel to be sufficient to reach his destination of rice lake WI without an intermediate fuel stop in cambridge MN. Through descent tail winds turned into headwinds resulting in fuel depletion. Though exhausted of fuel privacy data omitted thought he might be able to drift the aircraft to rice lake, but determined the best course was to land in the field since the rice lake runway is fronted with trees.
As the FAA filed it
DURING CRUISE FLIGHT WITH TAIL WINDS ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ DETERMINED HIS FUEL TO BE SUFFICIENT TO REACH HIS DESTINATION OF RICE LAKE WI WITHOUT AN INTERMEDIATE FUEL STOP IN CAMBRIDGE MN. THROUGH DESCENT TAIL WINDS TURNED INTO HEADWINDS RESULTING IN FUEL DEPLETION. THOUGH EXHAUSTED OF FUEL ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ THOUGHT HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DRIFT THE AIRCRAFT TO RICE LAKE, BUT DETERMINED THE BEST COURSE WAS TO LAND IN THE FIELD SINCE THE RICE LAKE RUNWAY IS FRONTED WITH TREES.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.