What happened
On November 3, 2010, a Cessna 172 P Skyhawk, registration F-GDIV, was performing a ferry flight from Saint-Cyr-l’Ecole to Chavenay. The flight was being conducted with a passenger on board. While approaching the Chavenay aerodrome, the pilot noticed the engine began to misfire. After attempting to adjust the throttle without success, the engine lost all power.
To avoid flying over the town of Chavenable, the pilot initiated an emergency landing on unpaved runway 10. Due to the high approach speed and altitude, the pilot performed a slip to descend, but the aircraft remained too high to land on the runway itself. The pilot subsequently decided to land in a field aligned with the runway axis to avoid airfield perimeter barriers. The aircraft's landing gear struck soft ground, causing the nose gear to sink after ten meters of rolling, which resulted in the aircraft flipping onto its back.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the cause of the engine failure and the circumstances leading to the flight preparation. Investigators examined the wreckage and found that the fuel tanks were empty, with no scent of fuel present at the site.
It was established that the aircraft had recently undergone maintenance. The pilot had been asked to ferry the aircraft following this maintenance. During the flight preparation, the pilot performed a mental calculation of the required fuel and estimated a remaining endurance of one hour and thirty minutes. While the pilot noted that the cockpit fuel gauges indicated a low level, he did not perform a visual check of the actual fuel quantity in the tanks during the pre-flight inspection. Furthermore, the pilot had not been informed that the aircraft had been released from the maintenance workshop with low fuel levels, as a fuel check was still pending.
Findings
- The engine failure was caused by fuel exhaustion.
- The pilot's erroneous calculation of remaining endurance was driven by haste during flight preparation.
- The pilot relied on cockpit gauges rather than a physical visual check of the fuel levels during the pre-flight inspection.
- The pilot was not notified that the aircraft was being delivered with low fuel levels following maintenance.
- The aircraft was not equipped with a low-level fuel warning alarm.
- The aircraft had been flying for seven hours and eight minutes since its last full refueling, leaving very little margin for the flight.