Investigators Deny Closing In on Cause of Denver’s Crash

Federal safety officials have denied recent news media speculation that they are focusing on lack of fuel as a probable cause of the October crash of singer John Denver’s plane.

A National Transportation Safety Board statement released Wednesday called a television news report suggesting that investigators suspect Denver’s plane ran out of fuel “inaccurate,” and emphasized that its crash investigation will be comprehensive and take up to nine months.

“It is not board policy to speculate on the possible causes of a crash,” the statement said, noting that fuel loss is “only one of many areas” under investigation, including Denver’s training as a pilot and the construction and design of his plane.

The board’s statement responded to a report by a San Francisco television station quoting an agency investigator saying that Denver had tried to switch from one fuel tank to another before the crash but failed to complete the switch. Both tanks were empty, according to the KRON-TV report.

The Federal Aviation Administration had pulled Denver’s medical certificate--which is required for a pilot’s license--in June 1996 because of two drunk-driving arrests. His license was invalid at the time of the crash.

Tests found no drugs or alcohol in his system.

Denver, whose 1970s hits included “Rocky Mountain High,” and “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” died of blunt trauma Oct. 12 when his plane nose-dived 500 feet into Monterey Bay. The crash occurred about 100 yards off Lovers Point, near the town of Pacific Grove. He was 53.

Investigators have retrieved several pieces of Denver’s home-built Long-EZ aircraft, including the small plane’s 150-horsepower, 200-pound engine.

The Long-EZ has been involved in 61 accidents since 1983 in addition to Denver’s, with 17 resulting in deaths and 21 people killed, according to NTSB records.

Dick Knapinski, a spokesman from the Experimental Aircraft Assn. in Oshkosh, Wis., saidthe Long-EZ is a “very popular, very stable” plane and that most accidents are because of pilot error.

He said fuel loss occurs under several conditions.

“Most pilots travel with 45 minutes to an hour of fuel in reserve before flying,” Knapinski said.

“Fuel starvation or fuel exhaustion occurs usually when people get lost, are flying in clouds, end up going in the wrong direction or just simply forget to switch fuel tanks.”

* The Associated Press contributed to this report.