What happened
During a series of night flights involving multiple legs, the pilot encountered an electrical malfunction while approaching for the second landing. The green landing gear indicator lights ceased to function during this phase of flight. Upon investigation, the pilot determined that the circuit breaker would trip whenever the landing gear was extended, but would remain engaged only when the gear was retracted. This specific circuit breaker was responsible for powering the landing gear lights, the engine oil pressure gauges, and both fuel quantity indicators.
Despite the loss of critical engine and fuel monitoring instrumentation, the pilot proceeded with four subsequent flight legs. During the fourth flight of this sequence, the aircraft experienced a simultaneous loss of power from both engines approximately 5 miles from the runway.
Post-flight analysis showed that the aircraft had been operated for a total of 4.3 hours across the flight series, which included six takeoffs, one missed approach, and a 20-minute ground run with both engines active prior to the final departure. An inspection of the aircraft following the power loss revealed that the fuel tanks had been completely depleted.
Findings
- The failure of the circuit breaker resulted in the loss of fuel quantity monitoring.
- The pilot continued flight operations despite the inability to monitor fuel levels or engine oil pressure.
- The total fuel on board was exhausted during the final leg of the flight series.