- Date
- September 27, 2025, 19:25 local (Sep 28, 2025, 01:25 UTC)
- Place
- Alpine, WY · open field
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N101NXSocata TBM 700
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 201756
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection and fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a subsequent off airport landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he was unable to determine actual amount of fuel on board the airplane. For his fuel planning he used indicated fuel amounts from the airplane’s analog fuel gauges as the input data for an electronic fuel planner and relied on the electronic fuel planner to track how much fuel was onboard the airplane. As they approached their destination, the airplane’s CAS (crew alerting system) began to display warnings for low fuel, and the pilot prepared for an emergency off-field landing. Subsequently, the engine experienced a total loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot then conducted a forced landing to an open field, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N101NX
- Reported as
- Socata TBM 700
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 309
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 3,458.3
- Engine
- P&W Canada PT6A-64, 700 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Venture Pilots Association LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- August 1, 2025
- Departed
- KGPI · Kalispell, MT
- Destination
- 46U · Alpine, WY
- Airport
- 46U
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 18, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,831 total · 318 in this make and model · 38 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- KJAC, 32 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KJAC 280058Z 31004KT 10SM CLR 18/01 A3007=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 MB in all.