NTSB Factual Report

The 519-hour private pilot departed on a 307-nautical mile round-robin cross country flight in a single-engine airplane. During the return flight, the pilot elected to land at an intermediate airport to purchase additional fuel; however, it was a national holiday and no one answered his repeated calls to the "after-hours" phone number. The pilot then asked another pilot where the closest airport was located so he could purchase fuel, and was informed of an airport about 20 miles away. The pilot proceeded to fly towards that airport but was unable to make radio contact with someone at the fixed base operator (FBO) to help him purchase additional fuel. The pilot then elected to fly to much larger airport about 34.4 nautical miles beyond his position, where he knew he could purchase fuel. The pilot stated that he encountered a significant headwind, but calculated that he had sufficient fuel on-board to complete the flight. When the airplane was established on final approach, the engine stopped producing power and the airplane impacted trees and terrain about a mile short of the runway. Examination of the airplane revealed there was 1.5 gallons of fuel onboard at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper preflight planning and preparation, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.