What happened
On August 14, 2004, a Cessna 150-L, registration EC-FEH, departed from Madrid-Cuatro Vientos Airport for Córdoba Airport under VFR conditions. The aircraft was carrying two occupants: the pilot and a passenger.
During the flight, the crew encountered navigation difficulties. After realizing the onboard GPS was providing erroneous data, the pilot relied on VOR triangulation. However, because the aircraft only possessed a single VOR receiver, the pilot had to switch between stations to determine position, a process prone to error. The pilot also deviated from the original flight plan. When the signal from one VOR station was lost, the crew could no longer establish their position via triangulation and likely continued via dead reckoning from an inaccurate starting point.
After approximately three and a half hours of flight, the crew believed they had found Córdoba, but they could not locate the airport. As the flight progressed, the aircraft began to suffer from severe fuel shortages. The pilot identified a straight, traffic-free local road and attempted an emergency landing. During a 180-degree turn to realign the aircraft with the road, the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion, forcing the aircraft to impact an olive grove.
The investigation
The CIAIAC investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the engine failure and the subsequent emergency response. Investigators examined the aircraft's fuel tanks, which were found to contain only unconsumable fuel, confirming the engine stopped due to lack of fuel. The investigation also reviewed the navigation methods used, noting that the pilot's reliance on manual triangulation without ground reference checks led to significant positional errors. Furthermore, the investigation scrutinized the alert services provided by the Córdoba Airport ARO office, noting that the aircraft's arrival was not reported to the Sevilla Control Center until well after the expected arrival time.