Pilot Debrief

TEMCO D-16A near Heber, CA — 2013-02-16

Final reportWPR13LA125
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Date
2013-02-16
Location
Heber, CA, USA
Aircraft
TEMCO D-16A
Registration
N716T
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

A loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight and fuel planning.

NTSB narrative

The pilot departed for what he anticipated would be a 1-hour cross-country flight. The airplane's two engines were supplied with fuel from a single main tank that he said contained 42 gallons at departure; however, he did not check the fuel quantity during his preflight inspection.. The pilot estimated the airplane burned 20 gallons of fuel per hour. As he neared his destination, both engines simultaneously stopped producing power. He turned on both fuel boost pumps, and both engines restarted. After about 1 minute, they shut down once again. He performed a forced landing to a muddy field. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no fuel in the airplane's main fuel tank and no indications of fuel leaks. The airplane had just received an annual inspection. Fuel records indicated that 20 gallons were added to the airplane's main fuel tank 13 days before the annual inspection was signed off. The accident flight was the first flight since the annual inspection, and the airplane's hour meter reading at the time of the accident indicated it had been flown 1.5 hours since the inspection was completed. The pilot said that he encountered a 30-knot headwind on the flight and that he had mistakenly programmed his GPS for the VORTAC, which was about 7 nautical miles past his destination airport. Regardless, had the pilot performed an adequate preflight inspection of the main fuel tank and adequate preflight calculations, he would have likely determined before departure that there was inadequate fuel to reach his destination.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not check fuel quantity before flight despite indications of low fuel.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 11 docket documents
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Docket documents11

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