The pilot was flying to an airport that was about 33 nautical miles away from the departure airport.
About eight minutes into the flight the Beech 35-B33’s engine “coughed and stopped running.”
In response, the pilot switched the fuel selector to the other tank, turned on the boost pump and wingtip fuel tank pumps, and attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful.
He then returned the fuel selector back to the original tank and made another attempt to restart the engine, but that effort was similarly unsuccessful.
He then selected a field near Scottsmoor, Florida, and performed a forced landing.
During the landing the airplane hit a tree, seriously injuring the pilot and substantially damaging the fuselage and left wing.
An FAA Inspector examined the airplane at the accident site and reported that he found the fuel selector on the right tank position and that both the right main and wingtip fuel tanks were empty.
He found a small amount of fuel in the left main fuel tank (later determined to be about two gallons) and no fuel in the left wingtip fuel tank.
A post-recovery examination of the wreckage also found that there was no fuel in the fuel pump or fuel injector lines.
In a post-accident telephone interview, the pilot told investigators the airplane “just didn’t have enough fuel.”
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate preflight fuel planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
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This March 2023 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.
“Inadequate preflight planning? “How about, “No preflight planning?”
I frequently fly without starting with full tanks, but I always stick the tanks with a calibrated stick. If it adds 30 seconds to the preflight, I’d be surprised. Why can’t others do that?
In the helicopter business it is common to trade fuel for payload, except for cross country flights. It just requires good fuel management and aircraft knowledge.
I am retired and most of my flying is local in big winged, low horse power airplanes so I also seldom fly with full tanks, except for cross country flights.
A good dipstick, an accurate watch and aircraft knowledge are essential….
Unlike V-tailed Dr.Killers Debbie’s had excellent saf-t stats.No fuel is no fuel.
Make the guy fix the a/c no matter the cost .And he can’t fly until it’s done .
I still find myself thinking about this today, 15 years ago a tenant at my field came to me demanding to know why my fuel is whatever it was at the time. I explained and showed him the invoices for the most recent deliveries. I showed that I was only making 3 cents a gallon. Unsatisfied, he left with the comment, “Well, I’ll go to XYZ and get my fuel there”. Afterwards I looked up prices at XYZ and they were 2 cents a gallon less then me. He ran low on fuel on approach to XYZ forced downwind landing, bounced when he pushed down, seat rails released, took the yoke with him vertical, stalled, his body was found in the baggage area behind the rear seats. 50 gallons x 2 cents is a dollar. He died for a dollar.
Thanks for your contribution to rising insurance rates.
Ok, don’t tell me. He was flying to get filled up at the other airport ’cause gas was cheaper there.
It looks like there was only one tree in this field and he managed to hit it square.
Always direct your vision away from any obstacle. If you keep looking at it you are likely to hit it. But this whole event seems really strange as the pilot was a 1200 hr CFI with 21,000 hrs. Taking off with 8 minutes of fuel is scary to me if it can happen to a pilot with that kind of experience.
Just shows hours don’t neccesarily mean much.
Apparently he didn’t look into the tanks, or believe the gauges, and destroyed a nice aircraft.
Turn in your Certificate…you’re done.!!