Why do pilots run out of fuel?

FloridaPilot said:
I know I am a rookie and there are plenty of things I still need to understand
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Yup....Get back to us in 40 years or so. I suspect by then you'll have tales of this or some other totally avoidable situation to tell. No offense offered...just coming from a different perspective.

Jim
 
Dr. O said:
Far be it for me to claim perfection. Massive paranoia and not enough money to replace the plane have held hands and protected me from my own stupidity so far (don't give up on me guys:D)
I consider the last hour of fuel in the tanks as contaminated from never having been burned off in the decades I have flown the old wreck and is unfit to enter the carbs.
Flight distance is by my watch - not distance. The distance to some particular airport has nothing to do with it. Bingo time is bingo fuel and we land. Did that 20 minutes from my home field one night. The guy with me was foaming at the mouth mad because he would now be 20 minutes late.
Some people do not have the mind set to survive flying. Luckily he ran out of fuel a couple of times with only minor damage and the wife put an end to his flying before Murphy did. Heard later he had to be towed back to land more than once in his yacht (shrug) after taking up boating.
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So you are saying that it's more of a mindset thing rather than I forgot to look at the gauges. The mentality of "I still have enough to make it, if not I can glide down" mentality is too scary for me.
 
FloridaPilot said:
So you are saying that it's more of a mindset thing rather than I forgot to look at the gauges. The mentality of "I still have enough to make it, if not I can glide down" mentality is too scary for me.
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"Get-there-itis" will make someone do crazy things that they otherwise normally wouldn't. Who knows what goes through some peoples' minds?!
 
My favorite accident report is the guy who listed he had like 7:20 of fuel on board on his plan. 7:21 into the flight or something like that he ran out of gas. Alas he was not quite on the ground yet. I gave him credit for having the fuel burn nailed though.
 
Part of my preflight is to check NOTAMs for my fuel stops but this may or may not work. Not long ago, my airport ran out of gas for a week or so and the airport manager refused to NOTAM it, claiming he didn't want to shed a bad light on the airport and possibly loose future business.

No rationalization, but if you've budgeted a 45 minute reserve with Flippin as your fuel stop, shut down, get out, see the sign on the pump, take back off, can't get into Mountain Home because of lake fog, go to Branson, do a couple of go arounds because of high crosswinds... You could end up as the Weekly Idiot on an internet forum.
 
Jim Rosenow said:
Yup....Get back to us in 40 years or so. I suspect by then you'll have tales of this or some other totally avoidable situation to tell. No offense offered...just coming from a different perspective.

Jim
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Agreed!

I would probably have many stories to tell, I have some already, No way will running out of gas be one of them. I'm too scared for that to happen.
 
They divert because of high winds and the airport they divert to doesn't have any fuel. So they burn up their reserves. They wait and try again, are excited about their new avionics and forget to check the tanks, they are almost dry and they run out on the way to their original destination. Stuff like that.

Or:
One guy was renting. Called the FBO the evening before the flight and asked them to top off the tanks. Then came in at 11 am and took the airplane and crash landed 2 miles short out of gas. Turns out someone else rented the plane before 11am and burned off 1 hour of fuel.
 
They don't top off because a commercial plane landed just when they were going to fuel up and they couldn't get service because the line people were all busy with the airliner, so they took off without topping off. Did what he always did and flew all the way home except this time didn't make it. He forgot he didn't top off like he always had before.
 
Ron Levy said:
And now you know why ferry pilots get the big bucks, and why insurance to cover ferry flights ain't cheap.
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I can understand why the ferry pilots get paid more... But higher insurance?

Could just as easily corkscrew it in(N223CD) with much more severe consequences. I don't understand the insurance premium, ferry pilots and the operations they work for generally have their stuff together.

Sure the aircraft is lost, but the pilot walked away. Are accidents or losses common on ferry flights?
 
FloridaPilot said:
Agreed!

I would probably have many stories to tell, I have some already, No way will running out of gas be one of them. I'm too scared for that to happen.
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....and that's a good and healthful thing! :-)
 
flyingron said:
My favorite accident report is the guy who listed he had like 7:20 of fuel on board on his plan. 7:21 into the flight or something like that he ran out of gas. Alas he was not quite on the ground yet. I gave him credit for having the fuel burn nailed though.
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that's giving credit where credit is due! :thumbsup:
 
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