The pilot reported that the Piper PA 28-180’s engine lost power about five minutes after takeoff and that the starter would not engage to facilitate a restart.
He executed a landing on a highway near Sulphur, La., during which the landing gear collapsed.
After the accident, a first responder who held a pilot certificate examined the fuel tanks and found no fuel in the left fuel tank and that the right fuel tank was full. Additionally, the first responder found the fuel selector positioned to the left tank. No fuel leaks were detected.
During recovery of the airplane, 22 gallons of fuel were drained from the right wing fuel tank and about 3 ounces of fuel were drained from the left wing fuel tank.
The pilot provided fuel planning information that indicated that the airplane should have had sufficient fuel to complete the flight on a single tank, however, he did not position the fuel selector to the full tank. Therefore, it is likely that the engine power loss was due to fuel starvation.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s failure to properly manage the airplane’s fuel supply, which led to fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power.
NTSB Identification: CEN14TA421
This August 2014 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
This subject was beat to death a few weeks ago. The author wanted an AD to have accurate gauges in every airplane. If a pilot does a poor preflight and mis manages fuel, in flight, there is nothing that can keep this pilot from eventually hurting them self.
I don’t believe changing tanks every half hour is a good thing. It increases pilot work load and can add confusion as to how much fuel is on board and where it is. Pick one tank, fly one hour out of it. Switch to the other tank, fly it dry. You now know what your cruise fuel consumption is and you now have about 1/2 tank remaining in the first tank. When you get on the ground, you can see how much fuel is available in in the second tank when you fill up. Flying a tank dry at altitude can get your attention but the motor restarts when you switch tanks. Don’t worry about an imbalance unles you have tip tanks.
The best way to not run out of fuel is to fill both tanks to the brim prior to taking the flight, and eyeball each tank to make sure it’s full prior to taking the flight (and of course needless to say, don’t try to fly from NYC to LA without a fuel stop). Simple as that. No fancy stuff. I never, never leave mother earth without full tanks, even if I’m staying in the pattern to practice landings. This is a rule I have just as sure as the one that suggests I do a complete check list prior to leaving mother earth. Someone is probably going to suggest their plane can’t get off the ground with their passengers and full tanks. My answer is: get a bigger airplane.
Poor headline in my opinion…………
the PIC is what caused this aircraft not to be able to land at a suitable runway…. his failure to select a fuel tank with fuel was the problem……….. not fuel starvation….. fuel starvation was a result of the PIC not selecting a fuel tank with fuel………
Headline should have been something like this: PIC fails to utilize a fuel tank with fuel, resulting in the engine to cease operating.
By the way…….. gravity is what brings the aircraft back to earth…….. a non-engined glider will stay aloft for a 1,000 miles without fuel… GRAVITY IS WHAT BROUGHT THE AIRCRAFT BACK TO EARTH…. what caused it to come back to earth at a time and place that the pilot did not choose… is because the PIC made poor choices and suffered the consequences of those choices.
The engine quits for whatever reason, there is an emergency landing. Does the system ever question how the landing is made? Did they question the Pilot about the chosen landing area and did he actually land there. 75% of off field landings touchdown midfield or beyond of the chosen site.
Is there ever going to be added to flight training how to land where you want to land power off?
” Gee Bob, can’t I check my I-Pone for the answer”????
NOTE: This would be your “contemporary” response – NO CHARGE FOR SATIRE!
Checklists are not instructions, they are reminders of the important items. Look in the fuel tanks and have a reasonable balanced fue. l Engine quits, switching fuel tanks and turning the boost pump ON are steps that should be done immediately from memory.
The prop is probably windmilling, no need for the starter.
Practicing power off landings every so often isn’t a bad idea.
You can’t fix stupid. Checklist states to put fuel on fullest tank before takeoff. Maybe if he used a checklist he would still be flying. Another perfectly good aircraft damaged because of stupidity. When are we going to learn.
When? Never! The same mistakes will be made until they can’t be made anymore. Your opening line explains why. Stupid CANNOT be fixed. Not now, not ever, period.
We are assuming that the fuel gauges were working, or indicating somewhat accurately, in this 45 yr old aircraft.! I have a difficult time thinking that the 132 lb imbalance on the right wing would not be felt as a very ‘heavy’ wing.!!
Even with non-op gauges, switching tanks every 30-45 min would ensure that there was some fuel in each tank.
JimH, you’re right on target. fuel gages might lie to us, but cycling the fuel selector is a great Idea anyway. Timing the fuel burn is a good backup method for unreliable gages. I have flown old planes with one gage for two tanks so you had to select the tank reading by setting the toggle switch each time the fuel valve was moved. Don’t forget to do this!