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Report: Fatal small plane crashed due to lack of fuel

Published  February 18, 2021 2:35pm PST
Port Angeles
Associated Press

PORT ANGELES, Wash. - The crash of a small plane in waters near Port Angeles in late January that killed one person happened after the plane ran out of fuel, The National Transportation Safety Board said.

The agency said in a report of preliminary findings Thursday that the Cessna 170A airplane with one man aboard left Kodiak, Alaska on Jan. 25 and that on Jan. 26, he refueled and departed Ketchikan, Alaska.

The man texted his mother that afternoon saying a severe headwind was causing concern about whether he had enough fuel to complete the flight, according to the report. He tried to make it to Port Angeles but broadcast a mayday call close to the city saying he was "ditching" near a boat that was towing a barge.

The Coast Guard and Canadian rescue crews covered 1,170 square miles searching the waters northeast of Port Angeles for the plane before calling off the search.

Port Angeles is northwest of Seattle on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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