AN AIR TAXI HELI PLT LANDED IN THE SFO BAY DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION.

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I BEGAN THE DAY AT HAYWARD ARPT. PREFLT THE HELI AT APPROX HA45 PM. CHKED FUEL WITH LINE SVC; ASKED IF HELI WAS TOPPED OFF. RESPONSE WAS 'YES.' I THEN ALSO VISUALLY CHKED IT ON PREFLT; AND XCHKED THE GAUGE; 75 PLUS GALLONS ON RUN-UP. DEPARTED HAYWARD; FLEW DIRECT HAYWARD AND SHUT DOWN. EXPECTED FUEL LOAD TOP OFF JUST AS USUAL. THE FUELERS WERE FAMILIAR WITH OUR DAILY SCHEDULE AND WOULD USUALLY TOP OFF WITHOUT REQUEST. THIS WAS MY LONGEST LAYOVER (55 MINS) BEFORE THE END OF THE 11 HR DUTY DAY AND 6.3 HR FLYING DAY. I DROVE ACROSS THE STREET TO EAT; CAME BACK TO THE HELI AT XE40; UNTIED BLADES; LOOKED OVER HELI. DEPARTED HAYWARD AT XE55. FLEW DIRECT GNOSS FIELD; THEN SFO. DEPARTED SFO IN LIGHT RAIN S ALONG HWY 101; L TURN E ACROSS HWY 92 (SAN MATEO BRIDGE). MIDSPAN I GOT A FLICKER ON PANEL FUEL PUMP. XCHKED LOAD METER. APPROX 1 MIN FELT YAW AND HEARD PWR SURGE IN ENG. LOWERED COLLECTIVE PARTIALLY; ENG OUT LIGHT AND AUDIO THEN SOUNDED AND ILLUMINATED; FULL DOWN ON COLLECTIVE; ARMED FLOATS; CHKED 60 MPH ESTABLISHED. KEYED UP HAYWARD TWR 120.2 CALLED OUT 'HELI GOING DOWN.' PULLED FLOAT TRIGGER APPROX 100 FT; XCHKED GAUGES AND FLARED SUCCESSFULLY; COMPLETED AUTOROTATION INTO WATER. AT NIGHT; APPROX XF46; WHILE IN THE WATER; I CHKED FUEL GAUGE. IT READ 0. I WAS CERTAIN IN MIND I SAW 50 GALLONS OUT OF SFO. I REMEMBERED VISUALLY CHKING FUEL AND SEEING 75 PLUS GALLONS OUT OF HWD. I WAS CONVINCED I LEAKED; LOST; ETC; 50 GALLONS BTWN SFO AND MIDSPAN HWY 92. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTING PLT STATES THAT THE 'FLOAT TRIGGER' IS A DEVICE THAT DEPLOYS INFLATABLE FLOATS ATTACHED TO THE RUNNERS OF THE HELI. THE BOTTLE CAN BE RECHARGED AND THE SYS REUSED. HIS COMPANY IS VERY PLEASED THAT HE USED THIS MECHANISM AND HAD A SUCCESSFUL NIGHT AUTO ROTATION INTO THE WATER. THE RPTR ADMITS THAT HE WAS OUT OF FUEL; THE REFUELERS FAILED TO FUEL THE ACFT AND HE FAILED TO NOTE THAT THEY HAD NOT PUT IN FUEL. THE FAA HAS GIVEN HIM A 2 YR LETTER OF REPRIMAND; AND THERE IS SOME TALK OF HIM HAVING TO MAKE A SAFETY TALK SOON. THERE WILL BE NO CERTIFICATE ACTION. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE OR INJURY.