Safe Landings - April 2011
It has been said that the only voluntary act in aviation is the decision to take-off. Every action after take-off involves the skillful management of risk, the enjoyment of flight and a continuous stream of decisions that result in a safe landing.
In 1974, NASA created the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) to allow aviation professionals to share experiences in a frank, non-punitive manner. The ASRS structure allows pilots and other aviation professionals to file an anonymous report of an incident, error or occurrence that the contributor feels might be of value to others. These reports are gathered, analyzed and data based by NASA experts and made available to all interested parties as a tool for creating pro-active aviation safety programs. Additionally, NASA distributes an electronic publication, CALLBACK, which contains selected, de-identified, reports on a free subscription basis. In Flight USA is proud to reprint selected reports, exerted from CALLBACK, for our readers to read, study, occasional laugh at and always, learn from. Visit http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/ to learn how you can participate in the ASRS program.
Preventable Fuel Management Errors: Fuel Exhaustion
Miscalculation: Determining fuel remaining based on assumed fuel burned figures and on gauges that are assumed to be correct is a dangerous gamble. This Piper Navajo pilot learned that physical verification of the fuel onboard is the best way to prevent miscalculations.
•The aircraft started to run out of fuel on the midfield downwind position as a result of a fuel miscalculation that I had made. At the first indication of fuel exhaustion, I commenced a descending right turn to the runway and notified Tower of my situation. I was cleared to land and did so without incident. During the turnoff onto a taxiway, the right engine quit running….
To the best of my knowledge, the origin of my fuel miscalculation was during a flight…on the previous day…. Based on [the flight time] and the chart our company uses for fuel consumption on the Navajos, I calculated that I departed on this flight with 25 gallons of fuel which should have yielded 38 minutes of flight time. [The flight was] approximately 10-15 minutes. When making fuel calculations with this table, it is my personal habit to err on the side of caution, and I often make it a point to add several gallons to whatever number is given so that there is a bit of a “cushion.” Although the numbers on paper indicated that the aircraft had 25 gallons of fuel, I was certain that there was a bit more. I was quite alarmed when both engines started to sputter on the midfield downwind leg.
As a result of this incident, I made it a point to review the fuel logs for all flights made several days prior and have come to the conclusion that the error was made sometime during this period. In the end, the lesson learned…. if you cannot physically see or touch fuel in the tanks, you cannot make assumptions.
Misidentification and Misreading
With two nearly identical aircraft on the field, refueling the correct plane becomes a concern. Unfortunately, by misreading a fuel sight gauge, this pilot “confirmed” a case of mistaken identity.
• I flew a new LSA (Light-Sport Aircraft) for display at [an airshow]. The sister ship to the one I was flying was already there. They are almost identical aircraft and both aircraft arrived with more than two hours of fuel remaining. Company plans required another pilot to take the aircraft I had flown (Aircraft #1)… and to leave the other aircraft (Aircraft #2) at the show with me. I placed a fuel order with the intention of fueling Aircraft #2, but they fueled Aircraft #1 instead…. I witnessed the refueling of Aircraft #1, but misidentified it as Aircraft #2.
The following morning, I reset the EMS (Engine Monitoring System) fuel counter to “FULL.” The location of the fuselage fuel filler does not allow for a visual inspection and the fuel sight tube, located behind the seats, is difficult to read (clear fuel in a clear tube). When full, the fuel level is out of sight. I looked at the top of the tube for confirmation and, anticipating a full fuel indication, I misread no visible fuel as an indication of a full tank. I did not inspect the lower portion of the tube that was probably reading a partial fuel situation.
…Nearing [my destination], the engine gave signs of fuel exhaustion so I requested assistance from Approach who vectored me to an uneventful landing.
After refueling… I departed and landed at my next stop where I spent the night thinking about what I had done wrong and how very lucky I was.
