The flight instructor told investigators he planned to complete back-to-back flight lessons with two students.
His students completed the preflight inspection of the Cessna 172 and each tank measured about half full. The flight instructor verified that the fuel gauges indicated sufficient fuel for both lessons.
During the second flight lesson with a student pilot at the controls, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power.
The CFI took control of the airplane and force-landed on a golf course near Lewiston, Idaho.
The airplane hit trees during the landing, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing.
The flight instructor told investigators the airplane ran out of fuel.
Probable Cause: The flight instructor’s inadequate fuel planning and improper in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
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.
We’re gonna break 100…I can feel it! It’s been a slow news week…
I’m not defending the CFI’s mistakes in this accident. But as a “well-seasoned” instructor, I’m sure he won’t repeat, whether he was ostracized by his flying buddies or not. His “learners” definitely won’t forget.
Even though comments have run from banal and inane, to some real pearls of wisdom, the important “bottom line” lessons learned are all about planning and monitoring fuel.
My “Red Flag” goes up when folks advocate to “always fill the tanks”…or to some other ‘predetermined’ level.
That might work in their own limited experience …but as a one-size-fits-all, universal Rule-of-Thumb (ROT); that is absolutely NOT the answer.
In fact, you could argue that is a violation of 14 CFR 91.103(a), Preflight Action, which says: “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include—
(a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed…”
We know “fuel requirements” are already defined for us in 91.151 and 91.167. Maybe the FAA could’ve highlighted “…concerning THAT flight” better, and “…not in the vicinity of an airport” is pretty ambiguous, but the point is that relying on ROT is fraught with peril.
The consequences of flying, or just attempting to take off, at greater than your max certificated gross weight, because you’re carrying too much fuel for the PLANNED flight, can be just as dire, as those that result from running out of fuel, because you didn’t have enough.
As mentioned earlier in this discussion, the often-used introduction to this concept is the “you can’t carry 4 adults and full fuel in a Cessna 172…” example. But there are an infinite number of others. Ask a CFI who instructs in an LSA, like a Cessna SkyCatcher, with @ 480 lbs. useful load, if the combined weight of instructor plus student, always allows a takeoff with full fuel? (That would also be a “No”)
It will be interesting to see if/how the NTSB addresses fuel load in the recent Alaska accident where the Cessna Caravan took off 1,000 lbs. over MGW and killed 10 people.
Wow! This is the largest response I have seen on this site. This is a hot topic, worthy of a response; Any landing you can walk away from is a low bar, but from one pilot to another, you are a hero. Leaning the mixture can help with fuel conservation in all phases of flight operation.
With the ‘FAA weight’ for men now at 195 lb vs the previous 170 lb, acknowledges that folks are a lot heavier than 20-30 years ago.
This is mostly why no one trains in a Cessna 150/152 anymore. It can’t handle 2 x 200+ lb folks and 26 gal of fuel. It is at gross with 18 gallons, or 3 hours of fuel.
My Chevy Malibu has a data tag that lists the max. load as 800 lb, but it can seat 5… [ 5 seat belts]. With 5 heavy guys, it is technically overloaded, but who notices or cares ?
When I was flight training, the instructors never leaned the mixture, and we never did any fuel calculation verification by refueling. So, I expect that most pilots have to figure out for themselves how to calculate fuel use.
Most Cessna 172s can have full fuel, 39 to 56 gallons, depending on model, AND load a student and instructor, and remain well under gross weight.
So, there is no good reason to run an aircraft out of fuel, or land with less than 1+ hours remaining.!
You should never load an aircraft over gross. If you can’t takeoff with full tanks, you should cut your time in the air appropriately.
Gas is going to cost about the same in time and money whether you fill up before or after the lesson, so do the prudent thing and fill up before.
I’m training in 3 different 172Ns. One is underpowered with 160 HP at 5100 feet. The other two have plenty of power with 180 HP. The 160 HP plane seems to struggle to get airborne with partial tanks and two people aboard. The other two planes climb like homesick angels, even with full tanks. So, you can’t automatically take off with full fuel, but you should always leave with at least 3/4’s of a tank.
After he recovered from his crash due to Jet A in his gas tanks, Bob Hoover always insisted the guy who’d made that mistake refuel his plane. He said he knew that guy would never make that mistake again.
Was it him?
It’s cuts down on boredom !
Actually all the comments above are looking at it backwards. Really, there was just too much air in the tanks! I’m in the camp of in this country the ONLY reasons you should ever run out of fuel is a massive, undetected leak, which is rarely the real case. Cranial rectitus is usually a major contributing factor.
No forgiveness! Running out of gas is not except able! Didn’t the fuel gages work? If not they should have been fixed. Running out of gas is just plain stupid!!! Make any other mistake but that one!
You don’t rely on fuel gauges. They show an approximation at best. The only reliable method is to use a dipstick, which is obviously impractical during flight! Calculating fuel burn is done using the POH, which again has no relevance to flights in the traffic pattern or in maneuvering flight. Fuel exhaustion during a training flight shows a remarkable lack of attention to safe operation of the aircraft on the part of the instructor.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Mistakes happen, and calculations are thrown off by other factors. Doing touch and gos increases fuel consumption, and the same for any flight instruction, where the student may not fly a “perfect” flight… extending flaps early, climbing faster than neccessary, not being steady on the throttle….
This instructor may have failed to take certain factors into account, but it’s definitely a learning experience for all, including keyboard warriors who seem to be perfect in every way. Learn from the mistakes of others. That’s why these reports are published.
Mistakes ? Yeah, like basic arithmetic.!!
1/2 tanks are about 19 gallons. divide that by the fuel burn of 7 gph and you get 2.7 hours…the exact time the cfi flew when he ran out of fuel.
Not a mistake, stupid non-planning.!
Not adding 5-10 gallons of fuel [ $30-$60 ], he trashed an aircraft.
More stupid pilot tricks.!!
Any fool that thinks your above making a mistake is just ripe for disaster. Shut up you might be next.
Yeah, ‘Keyboard Warriers.’ Note how they are still alive to comment. A learning experience isn’t any good if you’re dead.
Sir It would seem that your life should be more important than all of the other issues and to fill her up and keeping an eye on the gauge would be right up there will oil. Wouldn’t you prioritize the things that can kill you?
“The flight instructor verified that the fuel gauges indicated sufficient fuel for both lessons.”
This was not a mistake, this was gross incompetence. I would accept this kind of mistake coming from a student but never from any individual holding a private, commercial and Certified Flight Instructor certificates and working as a FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR. I can’t understand or forgive poor fuel planning coming from any licensed pilot, specially from a CFI!!!
The problem will only get worse as long as we continue to come up with excuses for this inexcusable lack of basic pre-flight planning skills. Unfortunately this type of accidents (and the publicity they get) increase safety concerns about general aviation among the non-pilot community, and will contribute to the ever increasing insurance costs we all are asked to bear.
CFI, Outstanding leadership running out of fuel. I hope colleague instructor’s at your flying school have a little more smarts than you do. Hand in your resignation.
All I can say is that VFR is not as easy as it looks on paper.
The instructor has failed both as a pilot and also as an instructor
One more consideration, it actually happened to me, the student checked the fuel tanks & didn’t fully secure the fuel cap(s) & the fuel was siphoned out after takeoff. 🙁
CFI: FINAL Pre-Flight Inspection is SOP for person in charge. Blaming student displays your LACK of Leadership & Safety Skills. How have you changed your Behaviours since?
If I’m getting in the aircraft, I’m checking fuel caps, and everything else that can kill me.
Yup.!! 100% Do a full walk around, check the fuel visually, and secure the caps. Check all the flight controls. Check and add oil,[ if needed ]. sump the tanks and gascollator…and any other stuff that could kill you if not right !!!
100% at every flight.!
[ the 1 time I didn’t climb the ladder and visually check the tanks, one of my co-owners had left a cap off !! The caps are on a chain, so it only siphoned a few gallons out.!!]
All I can say is holy crap! this amount of comments on running out of fuel. Aviation 101.
Obviously a lot of folks don’t understand fuel use in a piston aircraft….requiring a number of replies.!!
These are avoidable crashes that raise all our insurance rates.!
During my flight training, my instructor told me ,,,,fill up everytime!! If you run out of fuel and live thru the crash, I will personally kill you!! Yes he was that serious. …. great instructor, had a great time with him.
Right on 💯
What about the mandatory 25mins reserve. Througher pre flight planning, lodge a flight plan where possible and a througher pre flight inspection including pre take off checks…one of these contents sufficient incl. 25mins reserve in case of. In NZ mandatory to have at least 25mins reserve on board after landing unless an emergency during flight occured. Also prep for alternative airfield in case of bad wx
In the USA, the vfr minimum is 30 minutes of fuel, 45 for ifr flights.
BUT, only a fool will plan to those minimums.!
Would folks park their car at home having only 30 minutes of fuel in the tank, which is about 1-2 gallons.?? I don’t think so.
I plan for 2 hours remaining, or about 16 gallons of the 50 on board.
34 gallons will give me 4+ hours of endurance, more than my bladder can take.!
fuel is cheap insurance vs landing off-airport
This is an important part of piloting called “Hanger.Flying” from your 1st time flying experience to “Hanging it up”. I learned as much listening to other pilots experiences as I did in the cockpit.
Just learning … great info.
My instructor, who had many friends who owned twin engine airplanes would often fly with them. He would ask to fly the first leg of a cross county trip and would purposely use one wing tank only (unknown to the owner) until it ran dry. He said the look on the owners face when the engine stopped was memorable. He would then turn to the owner and say “well now we know how much flight time we actually have with this airplane when the tanks are full”. That’s a good thing to know.
Fuel burn changes every day. It changes based on density altitude, power setting, and mixture setting. Assuming you have the same range every flight is a dangerous attitude for anyone (especially a CFI) to have. Use the operating handbook and calculate fuel burn every flight.
I have found that all the Cessnas that I’ve flown have used fuel almost exactly per the POH, within a few percent.
The ‘Cruise & Range Performance’ chart in section 6 specifies fuel use , in gph, vs altitude, and power setting. It assumes that the mixture is leaned to best power.
So if you’re flying a Cessna 150,152, 170, 172, 175, 180 ,182 or 210, and operate it per the POH, the fuel use will be very close to the chart in the POH.
I don’t know about Piper, Mooney, Beech, etc….?
How really stupid of a way to teach a lesson. During my commercial training, the instructor, with 2 observers in the back seat had a habit of doing this. One time at about 5,000 AGL, in the school’s only twin trainer, a twin Commanche, it was repeated. While efforts were made to start the dead engine, and altitude was being consumed, the prospect of a suitable landing spot was ignored until it was obvious that a spot in the Florida swamps was were the aircraft would assume its final resting place. Thankfully, trees were avoided, and all aboard were basically uninjured. However, they all then had to wade in armpit deep water about a mile to higher ground.
We know that some fuel gauges are not accurate, but still if you are paying attention to them, when the needles get close to empty you had better land at the closest airport and get gas.
I had a friend with a few thousand flight hours run out of fuel years ago. Both fuel bladders were collapsed inside the wing, the clips holding it up had come off. When topped off and dipped, the gauges and dipstick both showed normal readings. The volume was just shortened by 2 hours by the collapsed bladders. There was no way around finding that out except by flying for max range. I agree with all safe flying comments, but remember before you judge, not all pilots and instructors are not at fault.
Condemnation is USELESS, Totally Agree. However, Judgment is CRITICAL & NECESSARY.
Cheers my friend!
My son and I used to fly as he was going through flight school. We took a trip once with a moderate head wind. After we reached our destination I told him let’s refuel. His reply was we will have plenty of fuel having a tail wind on our way back. My reply to that…. Well there’s really not a good place to pull over and refuel at 7,500 ft. Needles to say we did refuel. We did have plenty of fuel when we landed if we hadn’t refueled but why take a chance !!!
Flying ain’t natural! I ride a Harley! If i’m in a hurry, i take the Rocket lll !
Perhaps the summation should remind us of WHAT the “C” in CFI means; Certified… Simply put, that not only MEANS he/she is the PIC, but bears responsibility for the SAFE operation of the aircraft… As the FARs remind us, “ultimate responsibility lies with the Pilot In Command”… jerk his ticket and require FULL REcert.
Yep! Just like incompetent doctors and lawyers, etc., pull their license before they cause any more damage and death. McDonalds is always hiring for defrocked CFIs.
From a number of the comments, I wonder how many are pilots and have flown a C172 ??
My 7KCAB can fly for about 4-4.5 hours…however, for some mysterious reason my bladder only has about a 2.5 hours range. When flying cross country I land and refuel about every 2.5 to 3 hours. It is a slower way to travel than non-stop, max range flight, but if I’m in a hurry, I’ll fly commercial. JMTCW
After 14000 plus hours in many different GA planes VFR and IFR it still made me start planning where and when to get on the ground by a fuel farm of some sort when tanks were down to half fuel.
At Los Alamos NM the canyon floor below the mesa airport had sufficient evidence of planes that tried to make it in. The winds were so variable that pilots who made it in many times ran out of fuel and couldn’t make the last stretch of glide into the strip.
Even in flat lands like Mississippi pilots ran out of fuel and crashed a perfectly good plane.
One other trick – look at the fuels caps on low wing planes in flight. See blue stain or mist? Land. On high wings look at the caps when filling up. Blue stains? Leaking in flight. Fix.
Did he still charge the students for the lesson?
All of the comments that say never depart without full fuel aren’t being realistic, and that’s also why IMHO many neophyte pilots have no idea how to really plan for cross country flying. For instance, a 172 with full fuel can’t haul 4 adults, but it can easily haul 4 adults with only half tanks. But that means keeping track of the flight time, and landing so that there’s still the required reserves.
Example: My P172D has long range 52 gallon tanks, but only 42 gallons usable in all regimes, and with the 180hp conversion, burns a little under 10 gph. So I know that it has at most about 4 1/4 hours capacity. But if I stick the tanks and only have 15 gallons per side, I can still fly, but with only 30 gallons minus the 10 unusable except in level flight, that’s only 20 gallons. If I want a 30 minute reserve, I better be on the ground within 1 1/2 hours. It’s not rocket science calculations. Every student (and every CFI) should be able to make those calculations in their heads.
Hey! Fact is, too many pilots these days have enough trouble calculating Weight and Balance. You expect them to be able to handle the more complex task of fuel management? Banish the thought!
😉
I may annoy the FBO sometimes, but having the tanks topped off and a visual inspection done goes a long way in preventing this.
Ernest K Gann said “an airplane only has too much gas when it is on fire” not totally true but close.
When I worked as a refueler for Air Canada a pilot told me that the only time they have too much fuel was when they were on fire.
There is never an excuse to run out of fuel.
Top off or dip the stick. It was just plain negligent.
The only time an aircraft has
to much fuel in its tank, is when it is burning
I hated fueling my C-150. Climbing up the ladder with the hose was such a hassle. I also hated when I would bang my head on the ailerons. The best decision I made was to sell it and buy my low wing RV.
I have been a pilot for 52 years and always made sure of the amount of fuel I had on board. When on a trip I always got fuel when I had a chance. My plane is on floats in the summer and wheel skis in the winter. When flying on float on a trip I always checked for a place to get fuel and made a call if I needed to know there operating hours. You need to always be smart about all flying safety
I as a A&P mechanic.I Would always run up the aircraft before the aircraft would be released to the Pilots. On preflight you check fuel levels and fuel tanks for possible water in tanks. Always I had the aircraft topped off. Fully fueled. The Cessna 172 was one aircraft I enjoyed working on. But as a CFI. There is no excuse for not topping off the aircraft. Your lucky both people were not injured or killed. Always top off the aircraft before flight..do a thorough pre flight inspection also. Safety is life saving always. Good luck God bless.
Several years ago we had a flight instructor at our airport who was teaching aerobatics to a foreign student. This instructor was notorious for never filling the tanks and often bought enough fuel to cover his next flight. One time he must have miscalculated and they ran out of fuel. He flew over a nice flat pasture trying to stretch his glide, but stalled it and killed both of them. He left a wife and 3 kids.
don’t need to go onto the details – similar story – i was the first guy on scene. it’s not a good sight to see.
As a former CFI , I never took off with less than adequate fuel, when your on the ground ” fuel up” !
Anyone can make a mistake, thank God they are alive to learn from this. No need to make yourself the smarter one and punish others. I hope the student and the instructor will continue on their journey to be better pilots. I am a commercial pilot with instrument ratings and I know the repercussion of this incident will have on both.
Three things in aviation which are of zero use to a pilot…altitude above you, runway behind you, and fuel left in the fuel truck…
Rule #1 is it’s unacceptable to run out of fuel. Pretty bad that a CFI was that foolish. NoNo gas pumps on the clouds. I can’t remember once when I didn’t take off with the maximum possible load.
When I was in A&P mechanics I was taught that no planes would take flight unless fuel was topped off. That was the 70s with fuel tanks that could condense water if not full. New tanks are bladders and difficult to judge without weighing before and after
Anyone who ever runs out of fuel should have their certificate yanked immediately. Period.
Yep. You beat me to that recommendation. Get the incompetents out of the sky. Save lives and money.
Regards/J
Not period! In addition, a felony conviction for criminal negligence should be part of the process, guaranteeing a lifetime disqualification from holding any airman certificate. Along with all the other limitations a felony conviction imposes, such as no professional licenses, political office holding, voting rights, gun ownership, etc.
Never leave without full fuel. Gary l
WRONG. Many airplanes will be over gross weight if all the seats and all fuel tanks are full. Partial fuel is the only way to fill the seats.
Sometimes high density altitude makes operations with full fuel dangerous.
A good pilot matches the fuel load to the mission, but always has a sufficient fuel reserve.
You have to use your head.
Idiot.not checking fuel at the preflight. Did he want to suck up the bottom of the tank before refueling. Anyone can make a mistake but this one should have never happened.
Normally when receiving instruction and performing maneuvers you usually operate at higher than 65% power which means higher fuel consumption per hour!
If you read the POH, maneuvering speed is 122 mph, max., which is about 65% power.
If the aircraft is below gross weight, the maneuvering speed is lower.
Revoke his pilots license he could his student himself and who knows on the ground
As pilots it is imperative that we , inter alia, maintain constant awareness of our fuel level and consumption .
Kind of shows that in all professions there are some pretty basic things that get overlooked. I’ll bet that the CFI in this case taught several people a lot more than what he set out to. Fortunately no one was injured and this CFI, if he’s still instructing, is a much better instructor than before.
Never, ever, ever start your flight with less than full tanks! ESPECIALLY A TRAINING FLIGHT!!
When you don’t shoulder a shotgun properly you can wind up bruised and frustrated.
Mistakes with aircraft aren’t do forgiving. When I was getting my private license back in the 70s, my instructor had the exact same thing happen with another student in a Piper Arrow. They just barely made it back to Oakland Airport general aviation field. They had to land on a crosswind runway that was not in use that day. I remember thinking about all the things beyond your control that could work against you. But a fuel starvation incident was not one of those.
Apparently the blind leading g the blind
Old pilot rule add 10% for Mommie !
Chas Parker
Not sure if he trusted the students to check for proper fuel or if the instructor double checked it. Also if they were doing pattern work during the training, they likely were using more than 7 gph.
The Cessna 172L poh lists fuel use as about 7 gph ad 65% power,[ a good setting for students]
The std tanks are 42 gal, 38 usable. So 1/2 tanks is 19 gallons.
Then 19 gal / 7 gph = 2.7 hours….EXACTLY the flight time when it used all the fuel.!
It’s simple math and this very experienced pilot needs to remember that aircraft fly for a certain number of hours vs the fuel onboard.
So, more stupid, old pilot tricks and a very damaged aircraft, and avoidable insurance cost.expense, for the lack of a few gallons of avgas.!!!
This is a bit like reminding ourselves to not smoke in a puddle of gasoline. Or to avoid hand feeding wild wolverines. I mean, how stupid can you be?
7 gph? It would be a lot higher if they eere doing touch and go practice at 100% power on TO and low altitude. 65% and full rich is pretty conservative.for flight training.
If you do fly pattern work, you wold find that the downwind and decent offsets the take off and climb fuel use.
So, it will use a lot less than 7 gph….I’ve done that many times and then refueled.!!
Where was it?
Spot on JimH, how many more times to we read about instructors making fuel related mistakes!
This thing we do can be unforgiving..
Why take a chance on fuel?