Cessna U206F fuel exhaustion accident at Oyonnax (F-GDAA)

Accident Overview and Flight Details On 19 October 2014, a Cessna U206F with registration F-GDAA was destroyed in a fuel exhaustion accident near Oyonnax, France. The aircraft was operating a parachute drop mission for a local company. The pilot, the sole person on board, was conducting the ninth flight of the day when the incident occurred. ## Sequence of Events During the descent for runway 22, the pilot observed a rising cylinder temperature and an alarm on the engine monitoring system. After attempting to restore power by adjusting the mixture and selecting the opposite fuel tank, the engine failed to respond. The pilot determined that the aerodrome could not be reached and elected to land in a nearby field. During the landing roll, the nose gear broke, causing the aircraft to cartwheel and come to rest on its back. ## Investigation Findings The investigation determined that the engine stopped due to a lack of fuel supply caused by the selected fuel tank running dry. The right fuel tank was found empty, while the left tank contained 15 to 20 liters of fuel. The fuel system, filters, and injectors showed no anomalies that could explain the engine stoppage. ## Contributing Factors The report identified insufficient fuel management and monitoring as the primary cause. Contributing factors included the use of a manual fuel gauge not intended for this specific aircraft and a deviation from the established refueling strategy. The pilot had used a flat-rate consumption estimate of 30 liters per flight, but actual flight times, including delays imposed by air traffic control, varied. Two consecutive refuelings of 70 and 80 liters failed to compensate for the fuel consumed in previous flights, leading to the exhaustion of the right tank during the final flight.