Cessna 210 Fuel Exhaustion Incident at Iowa City (N650GM)

Operational Background and Crew Qualifications On the day preceding the incident, the Cessna 210 completed multiple flights between Newton, Kansas, Oklahoma City, and Shawnee, Oklahoma, without receiving fuel. The operator subsequently arranged a round-trip charter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Iowa City, Iowa, and asked a pilot with no prior experience in a Cessna 210 to conduct the mission. The pilot accepted the assignment and completed a half-hour checkout in Newton before departing for Tulsa to collect the passengers. During the approach, the pilot noted that the fuel gauges read empty and instructed the refueler to top off the tanks. A total of 48.8 gallons was added to the aircraft’s 120-gallon capacity, with the cost paid by a passenger. The pilot neither reviewed the fueling receipt nor confirmed that 48.8 gallons had been added. He also did not visually inspect the fuel quantity during preflight, stating that he did not consider the fuel gauges reliable. After approximately 2.6 hours of flight, the aircraft struck trees and power lines roughly half a mile north of Iowa City Airport. Investigators found no fuel on the aircraft and no evidence of siphoning or leakage.