Pilot Debrief

Cessna A185E near Eagle River, AK — 2020-04-12

Final reportANC20LA043
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Date
2020-04-12
Location
Eagle River, AK, USA
Airport
D72
Aircraft
Cessna A185E
Registration
N185RN
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to ensure adequate fuel onboard prior to the planned flight, resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and an aerodynamic stall during the subsequent emergency landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s reliance on an improperly programmed fuel totalizer.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s reliance on an improperly programmed fuel totalizer.

NTSB narrative

The pilot-rated passenger reported that, during approach for landing, the engine lost total power. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing; however, the airplane aerodynamically stalled short of the lake and impacted the ground. Upon arrival, first responders reported minimal fuel leaking from the airplane and negligible evidence of a fuel spill. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of preexisting malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The passenger stated the pilot did not add fuel the day of the accident or check the fuel quantity visually before departing on the accident flight and that the pilot relied on the fuel totalizer to determine fuel onboard. Although the fuel totalizer indicated there was 7.7 gallons of fuel remaining at the time of the accident, the accuracy of the fuel totalizer requires accurate estimates of the fuel onboard the airplane to be reliable. The investigation could not determine the amount of fuel onboard prior to the accident flight. However, assuming the pilot had full fuel onboard when he last departed the airfield he commonly refueled at, fuel burn computations were consistent with the airplane consuming all usable fuel onboard at the time of the accident. It is likely the engine consumed fuel at a higher rate than the pilot planned for, and the engine lost all power due to fuel exhaustion.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot should have verified fuel levels before the flight.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents22

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