Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 180 near Baker City, OR — 2017-07-09

Final reportWPR17LA147
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Date
2017-07-09
Location
Baker City, OR, USA
Airport
BKE
Aircraft
CESSNA 180
Registration
N4683B
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, which resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight fuel planning.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that he departed on a cross-country flight with 26.5 gallons of fuel and that he planned to make an intermediate stop to refuel before proceeding to the destination airport. The intermediate fuel stop airport was 97 nautical miles (nm) from the departure airport. About 45 minutes into the flight, when the airplane was about 3,000 ft above ground level and 5 nm east of the intermediate fuel stop airport, the engine lost power. The pilot assumed that the airplane was out of fuel and subsequently realized that the airplane would not be able to reach the intended airport. As a result, the pilot made a forced landing to a hayfield, during which the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot was using the fuel totalizer to keep track of the amount of fuel during the flight. The pilot reported that the fuel totalizer indicated 14 gallons at the time of the engine failure. The pilot also reported that, at that time, the fuel selector indicated "BOTH" and the fuel gauges indicated that the left tank was 3/8 full and the right tank was empty. Aircraft recovery personnel reported that, when they drained fuel from each tank, the left tank was almost empty, and the right tank had less than 1.7 gallons remaining. According to the Cessna 180 Owner's Manual, the unusable amount of fuel was 1 gallon. Additionally, no fuel streaking stains were observed on the top of either wing, which would have been consistent with fuel that was vented overboard. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane or engine that would have precluded normal operation. Thus, the loss of engine power resulted from fuel exhaustion. Because of his experience in the airplane make and model, the pilot should have known the airplane's fuel burn and should have planned to divert sooner rather than rely on the fuel totalizer and the fuel gauges.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not consider alternate landing spots when engine lost power.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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