According to the pilot, he performed a preflight inspection of the Cessna 150 with no anomalies noted, confirming 14 gallons of fuel onboard by using a dipstick, which would have yielded about 1.5 hours of flight time with a 30-minute reserve.
He departed the airport in McKinney, Texas, and flew 26 miles north to an airport for three touch-and-go landings. The pilot then flew back to McKinney and completed three more touch-and-go landings.
He reported that before the final landing, the fuel gauges indicated 1/4 tank and 1/8 tank of fuel.
On climb out from the final touch-and-go, about 200 feet above ground level, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot advanced the throttle and mixture controls full forward and turned off the carburetor heat, but the engine did not respond.
The pilot made a forced landing to a golf course, during which the airplane hit a tee box and nosed over.
The pilot reported that fuel was leaking from the fuel tank caps while the airplane was inverted and when the airplane was recovered, about three gallons of fuel were drained from the fuel tanks.
According to the airplane owner’s manual, the fuel tanks hold a total of 26 gallons with 3.5 gallons unusable (1.75 gallons per tank).
A post-accident examination was completed by a mechanic with oversight provided by an FAA inspector. The inspector noted that two to three gallons of fuel were found in a container, which held the fuel previously drained from the tanks. The fuel strainer and its attached fuel line remained attached to the firewall and were undamaged. The strainer, fuel lines, and carburetor did not contain any fuel and were completely dry and clear of contaminants.
The examination did not reveal any other pre-accident anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning and inflight fuel management, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.
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This March 2020 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.
Sounds like he was going by the gauges rather than the clock. Never trust the gauges especially in an older aircraft.
Needs to loose his license for one year !!! No if or buts about it, otherwise he will do this again !!!
How much fuel flow for 6 take offs, 7 maybe 8 GPH?
The Cont. O-200 fuel use is 5.5 to 6.0 gph, and a bit less doing touch-and-goes, since 1/2 the pattern is at very low power.
The C150 POH lists 0.5 gallons to clinb to 2,500 ft.
So, he didn’t have enough fuel for that last T&G…..sad that he can’t [ or wouldn’t ] do the simple math.!
It seems this pilot with his persistent ‘tough and go landings’
Became preoccupied with his task
At hand , fuel management was secondary!
Just pumping a measly additional 5 gallons of fuel into the aircraft would have negated this whole episode. There is just no excuse!
Yup.! With only 10.5 gallons usable [ 14-3.5 ] he was out of fuel in 1.2 hours.
This pilot has multiple ratings and a CFI, but can’t determine how much fuel he needed, plus reserves for the flight.
He needed at least 17 gallons in the tanks. [ 10.5 for the flight, + 3 gallons reserve + the 3.5 gallons unusable ].
This guy needs to do ground school again.!
It’s sad that this ‘stupid pilot trick’ wrecked a really nice C150 !