'Fuel Exhaustion' Led to B-25's Hard Landing: NTSB

"Old Glory," a 1940s era twin-engine bomber ran out of fuel before performing a hard landing in Stockton, NTSB said in its final report.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, February 08, 2023 at 04:58 PM ET

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View of the accident airplane at the accident site. [Courtesy: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

A B-25N warbird, "Old Glory," made a hard landing in Stockton, California, in 2020 due to total engine power loss from fuel exhaustion, resulting in injuries to all three people on board.
The NTSB determined the primary cause was fuel exhaustion, with contributing factors including erroneous fuel gauge indications and inadequate preflight planning and inspection by the crew.
The crew did not visually verify fuel levels and relied on an estimated fuel burn rate, despite conflicting information and the presence of faulty fuel gauges, which were confirmed during post-accident investigation.
Approximately six miles from its destination, both engines lost power, forcing the pilot to execute an emergency landing in an agricultural field, severely damaging the aircraft.

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A warbird on the very last leg of a ferry flight in 2020 made a hard landing in Stockton, California, because it ran out of fuel, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NTSB released its final report on the September 19, 2020 accident involving the North American B-25N, N7946C known as Old Glory. Three people on board the aircraft were injured in the accident.