Pilot Debrief

PACIFIC AEROSPACE LTD 750XL near Harvest, AL — 2017-08-28

Final reportERA17LA302
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Date
2017-08-28
Location
Harvest, AL, USA
Aircraft
PACIFIC AEROSPACE LTD 750XL
Registration
N750UP
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

The pilot's improper decision to not stop and refuel the airplane as planned and his improper in-flight fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a cross-country flight to deliver the airplane to a maintenance facility. The airplane departed with full fuel tanks. The pilot stated that, as the airplane neared the planned fuel stop airport, he thought that there was adequate fuel remaining to reach the maintenance facility, so he did not stop to refuel and continued to the destination. About 4 hours 23 minutes into the flight, which was past the expected fuel exhaustion time of about 4 hours 18 minutes (assuming a fuel burn of 50 gallons per hour, which the pilot used for his initial flight planning), the pilot declared an emergency and advised an air traffic controller that the airplane was out of fuel. The controller provided information to the pilot about nearby airports, but the airplane would not have been able to reach any of them, so the pilot initiated a forced landing to a field. Before touchdown in the field, the pilot descended to avoid power lines ahead, but the airplane hit one of the lines. The airplane touched down in the field, impacted an embankment, and came to rest upright on a road. The airplane sustained substantial damage. A small amount of fuel was observed on the ground at the accident site, and residual fuel was found in the two forward fuel tanks. Although the amount of the fuel could not be quantified, it was likely equivalent to the unusable fuel amount. Examination of the airframe fuel system components, including the fuel filter, the environmental collector tank, and the fuel lines in the engine compartment, revealed no fuel, which is consistent with fuel exhaustion. Therefore, it is likely that the pilot's improper decision to not to refuel as planned and his improper in-flight fuel planning led to the loss of all engine power due to fuel exhaustion

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not refuel at planned stop, leading to fuel exhaustion.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • ATC audio
  • Photos
  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

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