Almost Out of Fuel Over Mountainous Terrain

by | Dec 13, 2015 | All Pilots, Pilots, Student Pilots

Running out of fuel is a common cause of engine failure

Here’s another story sent to us by a one of our readers. This is more common than you think and could have ended very badly! Many pilots just put fuel in the plane and don’t give it much thought afterwards. You have to keep track of your fuel, change tanks regularly and use descent and landing checklists because missing any of these could cause an engine failure.

The following story was submitted by Golan Bar Tal

Fuel starvation – The most stupid reason for engine cut-off

I had this cross country flight with a friend. I checked the available fuel, calculated the required for the full flight (both directions) and made the decision we are good to go. Landing at our destination, I checked the fuel again, and realized I was consuming more than expected. But still, should have enough for the way back.

In the last part of the flight, before descending into the pattern, my fuel gauges showed EMPTY. I was above mountainous area, full of trees, and could only think what I’m going to do if the engine quits! I was never so terrified in my life! I was back with about 3 gallons of usable fuel. It was enough, but looking at empty indication on fuel gauges was scary….
 
 
Lessons learned:
1. ALWAYS take the maximum fuel that you can. Even if calculations (including spare) show it is enough – don’t get lazy and get some more. If you don’t have weight limitation, fill it all the way up!
 
2. At our destination, it was required to schedule fuel in advanced. Since I thought I would have enough, I didn’t schedule it. Once I realized I burned more fuel than I planned for, I should have gotten more fuel. It’s better face a mistake and deal with it on the ground, than to feel bad by doing so and deal with it in the air. There is nothing more stupid than dealing with engine cut-off due to lack of fuel, especially if there is no real reason to go with less than maximum.
 

 

Advice From Flight Instructor Joe

My advice to any pilot, whether you are a student or not is to be sure that know your fuel burn well and always be conservative in your estimates. Always take more than enough fuel. Get in the habit of changing fuel tanks every half hour because there have been many accidents with pilots running out of fuel and crash landing with a full tank of fuel in the other wing. Also, if you are flying at a high altitude and you have leaned the mixture for cruise, the engine could stop while descending due to lack of fuel if you forget to enrich the mixture. Reading the checklist helps prevent this kind of situation.

Engine failures and mechanical problems are not all fuel related though so knowing as much about your plane as you can is very important for preventing problems before they happen. We have a few e-lessons that are related emergencies in flight or mechanical issues that would be beneficial to anyone and we also have an e-lesson specific to emergencies during IFR flying that you will find helpful in our IFR pilot section.

Do the best you can to remember and learn from this story. Fly Safe!