- Date
- December 19, 2025, 15:44 local (21:44 UTC)
- Place
- Post, TX · Approximately 100 yards short of runway 17
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2536UCessna 172D
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 19, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20251219018799I
- Case key
- 202218
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 failure to see the blockage in the fuel tank vent tube during the preflight inspection which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the deterioration of the right fuel cap vent to the point where it was inoperative.
Findings · 1
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 was delivering a recently purchased airplane for a friend and decided to land for fuel. While in the landing pattern the engine lost all power. The pilot immediately turned toward the runway, switched the fuel selector valve from both to the left tank position, then to the right tank, and back to both while he attempted to restart the engine, without success. The pilot conducted a forced landing to a field. During the landing the airplane struck and came to rest in Mesquite trees about 100 yards north of the airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing outer leading edge, the left leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer, the firewall, and the fuselage lower skin. After the accident, the pilot checked the fuel level. When he removed the first fuel cap, he noticed the sound of air rushing into the fuel tank. Further examination by the FAA revealed dry, hard dirt consistent with a Mud Dauber nest blocking the fuel tank vent tube. They also found the right fuel cap vent was deteriorated and inoperative and the left fuel cap was not a vented cap. The FAA stated about 6 gallons total fuel remained in both right and left fuel tanks. The airplane did not have a current annual inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2536U
- Reported as
- Cessna 172D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17250136
- Built
- 1963
- Airframe hours
- 3,015
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 9, 2024
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 5F1 · Post-Garza County Municipal Airport, runway 17, 2,400 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 19, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 172 in this make and model · 12,000 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 20 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- KSNK, 36 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KSNK 192155Z AUTO 21020G24KT 10SM CLR 22/M06 A2990 RMK AO2 T02221065
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 19, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.