# NTSB ERA26LA063: Cessna 172, N64859, DeLand, FL, December 8, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: December 8, 2025, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC) - Place: DeLand, FL - Coordinates: 29.067031, -81.283757 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=29.0670&lon=-81.2838&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Enroute: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious, 1 minor - Status: Completed, report June 17, 2026 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 202129 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA063 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/202129/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=202129 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA063 ## Probable cause The flight instructor’s inadequate fuel quantity inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Planning/preparation: fuel planning](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030): Personnel issues › Task performance · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 719 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061030/cases.md) - [Fluids: fuel](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Inadequate inspection (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 1,695 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md) - [Fluids: fuel](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Fluid management (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 1,695 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Enroute: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 804 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md) - [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 14 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md) - [Emergency descent: Off-field or emergency landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 22 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 3,365 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md) - [Landing: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Cessna 172P, 45 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2072436), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis During a cross-country instructional flight, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power, and the flight instructor performed a forced landing to a road about 2 miles from the destination airport. During the landing, the airplane struck trees and came to rest upright, sustaining substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. A recovery crew responded the same day and noted that both wing fuel tanks were intact but absent of fuel. An FAA inspector subsequently examined the wreckage at the recovery facility and found no fuel in the filter at the belly sump, which was the lowest point in the fuel system. The flight instructor later reported that fuel exhaustion was the likely cause of the accident. He stated that before departure, he relied on avionics, which indicated 21 gallons of fuel onboard rather than visually verifying the fuel quantity in the wing fuel tanks, and the avionics indication was likely inaccurate. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N64859](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N64859), registered now, S/N 17275636, built 1982 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 172 (P) - Registry model: [Cessna 172P](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172p) (registry code 2072436) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming IO-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-320-series) (registry code 41509, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17275636 - Year built: 1982 - Airframe hours: 13155 - Engines: Lycoming O-320 160 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Commuter - Last inspection: Annual, December 20, 2024 - Departed: X50, Edgewater, FL - Destination: Same as departure - Airport: DED, DeLand Municipal Airport - Equipment: Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Flight instructor; age 50; injuries: serious; airline transport, commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine sea, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, with waivers/limitations; seat: right; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 16,000 total, 4,000 in this make and model, 12,000 as pilot in command, 40 in the last 90 days, 5 in the last 30 days - Pilot; age 30; injuries: minor; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; seat: left; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 865 total ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 360° at 7 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 1,400 ft broken - Temperature: 66 °F, dew point 59 °F - Altimeter: 29.95 inHg - Observed at: DAB, 13 nm away - METAR: METAR KDAB 081853Z 36007KT 10SM BKN014 BKN036 19/15 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP142 T01890150 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20251208019799A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20251208019799A), Dec 8, 2025: Cessna 172P, Deland, FL, Substantial damage. The pilot stated that he was sure that the cause of engine failure was due to fuel contamination based on the sputtering he described at the time of engine… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2026, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=202129. 8.6 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 17 pages, 5.9 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19753433&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Memoranda for the record (item 2, PDF, 3 pages, 108 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=20387107&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=MFRs_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Investigation photographs (item 3, PDF, 3 pages, 2 photos, 2.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=19752408&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Investigation%20Photographs_Redacted-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.