The pilot of the experimental amateur-built Acro II biplane had just purchased the airplane and intended to fly it to his home airport.
Prior to the flight he asked the previous owner questions about the fuel indicator tube (a sight gauge indicating the fuel quantity) and noted that it had no markings.
He departed for the planned 2-hour and 12-minute flight with the fuel tank completely filled with 26 gallons of fuel and assumed an 8 gallon per hour fuel consumption rate.
About 1 hour and 15 minutes into the flight, the fuel sight gauge began showing a reduced fuel level in the tank, and indicated what the pilot thought was 7/8 of a tank of fuel remaining. After flying 20 more minutes the fuel gauge indicated half a tank of fuel, and after 15 more minutes of flying the fuel gauge was getting close to empty.
He flew another 15 minutes and was about 10 minutes from his destination airport when the engine lost all power. He immediately looked for a place to make an emergency landing.
He lined up on a field near Milford, New Jersey, and landed smoothly. During the landing rollout, tall grass wrapped around the main landing gear and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the biplane’s top wing and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot sustained minor injuries in the crash.
The pilot stated that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane and that the airplane ran out of fuel.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s lack of familiarity with the airplane’s fuel system, 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 May 2024 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.
How many accidents have we read about that a new purchase ends in a crash? How many of those had the familiar motif of a fuel association?
Your headline introducing this article states: “A new Acro II owner’s misunderstanding of a fuel sight gauge led to a total engine failure.”
It’s clear from the article that there was nothing wrong with the engine – it was simply yet another case of fuel exhaustion as a result of mismanagement by the PIC.
Please be careful, in future headlines , to distinguish between engine failure and fuel exhaustion.
It’s been edited now.