Pilot Debrief

PIPISTREL ALPHA TRAINER near Pompano Beach, FL — 2014-07-16

Final reportERA14LA355
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Date
2014-07-16
Location
Pompano Beach, FL, USA
Airport
PMP
Aircraft
PIPISTREL ALPHA TRAINER
Registration
N10PU
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Climb

Probable cause

The pilot’s miscalculation of the fuel quantity requirements, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, during the preflight inspection, he determined that the airplane had 45 percent of its fuel capacity (5.7 of 12.7 usable gallons). He determined the fuel amount by viewing the indicators on the cockpit panel and by "dipping" the tank and noting that the fuel level was just below the halfway mark on the dip stick. He found no water or grit in the fuel. The pilot reported that the flight was intended to be 1 hour long and that, per the airplane's performance criteria, he calculated that the engine would consume 3.6 gallons of fuel during the flight. The pilot took off on the local flight, and, when the airplane was inbound toward his home airport, the engine "abruptly stopped." He then diverted toward a closer airport and attempted to restart the engine without success. While approaching the airport, he made shallow turns to align the airplane with a runway, but the airplane's left wing impacted a tree, and the airplane subsequently impacted the airport perimeter fence. The cockpit GPS indicated that the flight was 0.9 hour long. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks or lines, and no evidence of fuel leakage was found at the accident site.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the flight due to low fuel before takeoff.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents4

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