[billorites]

Running out of fuel doesn't cause aircraft to "fall out of the sky" as described in the article. Airplanes fly fine without fuel, just not for very long or very far.

Stall/spin is what makes airplanes fall out of the sky. That Cessna was not flying when it crashed. It was plummeting.

[The Cajun]

Airplanes fly fine without fuel, just not for very long or very far

Thinking that little Cessna has a pretty good glide ratio.

[ken5050]

As a non-pilot, I have a few questions. I'd always heard that the Cessna virtually flew itself...a forgiving plane. He was on a final approach to the runway so he had to be in control until right before the crash, when the plane( as described) went in almost nose first

Why assume he ran out of fuel. isn't it as likely, if not more so, that he suffered a heart attack, spasm at the controls, at the plane went in..an autopsy will tell.

[old curmudgeon]

One of the most common mistakes made when power is lost is to try to stretch the glide.

Trying to make a field just a little bit past that tree line or village or whatever.

That always ends in a stall spin close to the ground.

One must maintain the proper speed and take whatever comes because a crash under control beats a loss of control crash every time.

We don’t know what happened. The check I just made on the weather conditions at 5:00PM yesterday showed winds gusting to 35. It could have been something as simple as loss of control in turbulence.