2003-04 · NASA ASRS report 578334
PLT OF SMA HOMEBUILT ACFT LANDED OFF ARPT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION.
THE PROB WAS A COMPLETE LOSS OF PWR. NO INDICATION OF IMMINENT PWR LOSS EXISTED. FUEL SELECTOR WAS CHANGED TO DIFFERENT TANK; AND BOOST PUMP TURNED ON. PWR DID NOT RETURN. FUEL FLOW COMPUTER TOTAL INDICATED 12 GALLONS REMAINING. FUEL TANK INDICATOR WAS FLUCTUATING APPROX AROUND 5-10 GALLONS. ACFT WAS LANDED SUCCESSFULLY ON A COUNTY ROAD. ACFT WAS INSPECTED BY CERTIFIED IA MECH; AND FOUND TO BE AIRWORTHY. SEVERAL 5 GALLON CONTAINERS WERE USED TO REFUEL WITH 100LL AVIATION GAS. ENG RUN-UPS AND CHKS WERE PERFORMED AND WERE FOUND TO BE WITHIN LIMITS. ACFT HAD NO INDICATION OF FUEL LEAKS. WE HAD BROUGHT FUEL TANK LEVEL TO 'FULL' AT SHREVEPORT; LA (APPROX 40 GALLONS). A FLT CREW WAS MADE TO WINNSBORO; LA; WHICH TOOK 40 MINS. A CALCULATED BURN OF 6 GALLONS COMPARED CLOSELY TO FUEL FLOW COMPUTER. THE ACFT SAT OVERNIGHT; AND NEXT MORNING WE INSPECTED IT. VISUAL INSPECTION IN THE FUEL TANK WAS MADE; BUT IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE ACTUAL FUEL QUANTITY IN TANK BY THIS MEANS. THE FLT CREW TO TALLAHASSEE WAS PLANNED AS 2 HRS 30 MINS ETE; AND A FUEL BURN OF 19 GALLONS. THIS LEAVES 40 GALLONS -- (6+19)= 15 GALLONS OF RESERVE AT TALLAHASSEE. THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR FUEL STARVATION ARE: 1) THE TANK WAS NOT FULL AT TLH (WE SUPERVISED FUELING; SO THIS SEEMS UNLIKELY). 2) FUEL PORTED OUT OF ACFT DURING FLT CREW (NO STAINS FOUND). 3) PARTIAL FUEL STOLEN FROM ACFT AT WINNSBORO; LA. A PREVENTATIVE/CORRECTIVE ACTION WILL BE TO REMOVE FUEL TANK FLOAT SENSOR AND INSTALL VISION MICROSYS CAPACITY OF LOW TANK LEVELS; AS IT CANNOT BE DONE VISUALLY. FLOAT SENDERS ARE DANGEROUS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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