What happened
On 2 May 2007, a Cessna 152, registration G-BWEV, was conducting a private flight from Shoreham to Andrewsfield. During the flight, while cruising at 3,000 ft amsl approximately 11 nm southeast of Andrewsfield, the engine began to falter. The pilot attempted to rectify the issue by applying full throttle and engaging carburettor heat, but the engine subsequently stopped.
Recognising the engine failure, the pilot initiated a forced landing. After determining that the initial chosen field was unreachable, the pilot steered the aircraft through a gap in a hedge into an adjacent field. The aircraft struck a hedge on the far side of this second field, resulting in damage to the propeller, engine cowling, left door, and both wing leading edges. There were no injuries to the pilot.
The investigation
The investigation established that the aircraft's fuel tanks had been filled to a total of 80 litres prior to an earlier instructional flight that day. The pilot, unaware of this initial refueling, had performed fuel quantity checks using a dipstick at both Andrewsfield and Shoreham. At Andrewsfield, the pilot measured 30 litres in the left tank and 40 litres in the right. At Shoreham, the measurements were 20 litres in the left and 30 litres in the right.
Using software to plan the return leg, the pilot estimated a fuel burn of 19 litres per hour. However, post-accident inspections by the airfield manager and an engineer revealed that the right tank contained no fuel and the left tank contained only 10 litres.
Findings
- The engine failure was caused by fuel exhaustion.
- The pilot's fuel planning was based on incorrect manual measurements taken via dipstick.
- The pilot was unaware that the aircraft had been partially refueled earlier in the day, which led to an inaccurate assessment of the available fuel reserves.