Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 180 near St. Johns, AZ — 2013-11-03

Final reportWPR14LA042
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Date
2013-11-03
Location
St. Johns, AZ, USA
Airport
KSJN
Aircraft
CESSNA 180
Registration
N3148C
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

A total loss of engine power while on final approach due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot’s improper preflight fuel planning.

NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot was conducting a cross-country flight. While on final approach to the destination airport, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot subsequently made a forced off-airport landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. During the recovery of the wreckage, no fuel was found in the right wing fuel tank and less than 4 gallons of fuel was found in the left wing fuel tank. The fuel system was intact, and no sign of fuel leakage from either tank was observed. The engine was test run with no anomalies noted. Although the pilot had conducted the flight many times before without incident, given the evidence, it is likely that the pilot did not ensure that adequate fuel was onboard the airplane for this flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the total loss of engine power.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not use carburetor heat during approach to land.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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