The flight instructor and the pilot were conducting an instructional flight when the Cessna 182 had a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
The airplane fuselage sustained substantial damage during the forced landing in rough terrain near Gypsum, Colorado.
The CFI told investigators there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane owner reported that the fuel tanks remained intact after the accident, were void of usable fuel, and both fuel tank quantity gauges indicated empty.
Before the flight, the flight instructor asked another flight instructor to request the FBO refuel the airplane. However, despite the fuel request being relayed to the FBO front desk personnel, the airplane was not fueled before it departed on the flight.
The flight instructor and the pilot both admitted that they did not visually confirm the fuel quantity during their preflight inspection. Additionally, believing that the fuel tanks were topped-off as requested, the pilots erroneously reset the airplane’s electronic fuel totalizer to reflect a full fuel load before takeoff.
Probable Cause: The failure of the flight instructor and the pilot to visually confirm the airplane’s fuel quantity during preflight, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and an off-airport forced landing in rough terrain.
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This June 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.
This is criminal negligence.
As a minimum, I sincerely hope that everyone reads the CFI’s 2-page “Statement”. In it, he describes the thought/decision making process that ultimately led to the accident.
It borders on “unbelievable”.
My reaction: It made my arms hurt.
” loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and an off-airport forced landing in rough terrain. ”
I take exception with the description of the terrain as being rough. In Colorado, that’s considered smooth terrain.
” We never checked the tanks visually, which at the end of the day is a massive mistake on our behalf, and I take full responsibility. However, I was specifically taught that when preflighting that airplane, we were never to check the fuel tanks visually because it is a high wing aircraft and we would need a ladder to climb up and make a visual check. ”
I’m being polite here, it seems this culture is getting real good at accepting the command, Shut up and do what you’re told. A CFI was instructed to not have the fuel level visually checked because it would require a ladder ? So he complied with that instruction ?
Whisky Tango Foxtrot
I’m being very polite.
The CFI’s instructor was afraid of heights?
I too couldn’t believe what I was reading. This takes the well known ‘deity phase’ of a flight instructor to a whole new level.