Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22 near Bastrop, TX — 2009-06-29

Final reportCEN09LA400
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Date
2009-06-29
Location
Bastrop, TX, USA
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22
Registration
N220TX
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to properly verify the fuel load prior to departure.

NTSB narrative

The certificated airline transport pilot said he performed a pre-flight inspection and verified the oil and fuel quantities before departing. However, he was unable to visually verify the amount in the fuel tanks and instead referenced what was last manually programmed into the electronic fuel totalizer on the multi-function display, which was 42 gallons. The pilot crosschecked this amount with the fuel guages and there was a discrepancy, so he added 10 gallons of fuel to each tank. He departed with what he thought was 62 total gallons. As the pilot approached his destination, the fuel annunciator light illuminated. Shortly after this the right tank was "exhausted." He switched to the left tank, and noted 9 gallons remaining. Shortly after, the fuel annunciator illuminated again, and the engine lost total power. He made a forced landing on a narrow road and struck a barbed wire fence which substantially damaged both wings. The fuel tanks and associated plumbing were intact. When power was applied to the airplane, the left fuel guage indicated approximately 2-3 gallons and the right guage indicated 0 gallons. Data downloaded from the primary flight display unit, remote data module, and the multi-function display unit card, along with fueling records, revealed that the airplane departed with approximately 38.2 gallons and not 62 gallons. There would have been approximately 2.6 gallons total on board at the time the engine stopped producing power, which is consistent with the amount of fuel observed on the guages at the accident site.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot should have verified fuel amount before departure instead of relying on gauges.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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