Not to mention the most famous case of running out of fuel:

The Gimli Glider

With the new information, this looks to me like something very simple and trivial, aggravated by the most inconvenient time at which it could happen: A software glitch (computer crash, memory overload, runtime error) or an electric foul-up. There's usually the odd circuit breaker or connector acting up. Probably if this had happened in an earlier stage of the approach or at cruising altitude, there would have been the time for a manual reset, but not 2 mi short of the runway, at 600 ft and low speed.

Under these conditions, the pilots actions would be explicable also. To avoid stalling by clutching at the sinking rate towards the runway, he tries to maintain a maneuverable speed and ditches short of the runway, instead of stalling at low altitude and crashing uncontrollably.

(By the way, SG, regarding your solo sans-electrics, I hope you had red filter to put on your flashlight!)