BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration suggests a small plane that crashed in the backyard of a Boynton Beach home last month ran out of gas.
According to investigators, the plane had only been in the air 20 minutes before crashing into the backyard of a home in the Dos Lagos neighborhood.
The crash killed pilot John Pardillo, 67, of Miami. He was the only person on board.
Although the FAA report does not explicitly say the plane ran out of gas, it reads that the both fuel tanks, the fuel pump and the fuel lines were "devoid of fuel."
The report also claims there were just two drops of gas in the plane's engine.
It also finds there was no browning of the grass or vegetation near the crash site, which usually happens when fuel is spilled when a gas tank ruptures on impact, another indication that the plane may have been out of gas when it crashed.