C152 PLT DECLARES AN EMER DUE TO LOW FUEL AND LANDS AT A FACILITY NOT REALIZING THAT IT IS AN AFB.
Synopsis
C152 PLT DECLARES AN EMER DUE TO LOW FUEL AND LANDS AT A FACILITY NOT REALIZING THAT IT IS AN AFB.
Narrative
WHILE FLYING VFR FROM PRESCOTT; AZ; TO ZZZ (PLANNED DEST ARPT); I WAS PIC OF A C152 THAT EXPERIENCED A CRITICAL FUEL EMER. AT 3 HRS 23 MINS TOTAL TIME ENRTE; I WAS CLRED TO LAND FOR THE STRAIGHT-IN TO RWY 24 APPROX 9 NM TO THE E. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; THE ENG DISPLAYED 2 SUCCESSIVE PWR SURGES. BOTH TIMES DROPPING BELOW 1000 RPM'S. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT I CONSULTED MY COPLT (ALSO A PVT PLT) AND WE DECIDED IT WOULD BE BEST TO GET DOWN ASAP. I TURNED TOWARDS ZZZ1; SQUAWKED 7700 WHILE HE DECLARED AN EMER WITH TWR. I MANEUVERED TOWARDS THE ARPT AND WAS GIVEN CLRNC TO LAND ON RWY 22 OR RWY 25. I SET UP FOR RWY 22 AND SLIPPED INTO LAND WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. AFTER WE WERE GREETED BY THE EMER RESPONSE TEAM; MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE; WE WERE INFORMED WE HAD LANDED AT AN AFB. I TAXIED OFF THE RWY AND DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY OTHER PWR LOSSES; HOWEVER; THE TANKS WERE VERY LOW. I FEEL IMPORTANT DETAILS TO CONSIDER INCLUDE THE FACT THAT I WAS PART OF A GROUP OF ACFT ALL FLYING THE SAME RTE; ONE OF WHICH WAS ALSO A C152 WHICH DEPARTED ROUGHLY 15-20 MINS EARLIER. ALSO; THIS WAS MY FIRST XCOUNTRY OF THIS MAGNITUDE AND I RELIED TOO MUCH ON THE INPUT OF THE MORE EXPERIENCED MEMBERS OF THE GROUP WHEN IT CAME TO FLT PLANNING. THIS GAVE ME A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY -- 'I SHOULD BE FINE.' THEY DIDN'T MENTION A FUEL STOP. THEY HAD DONE THIS TRIP BEFORE. THOUGHTS OF THIS NATURE CLOUDED MY JUDGEMENT. ADDITIONALLY; AT AROUND 3 HRS OF TOTAL FLT TIME; I BEGAN CONSULTING MY COPLT AND THE PLT OF THE OTHER C152 ON GND SPD; FUEL BURN; AND ETA. WE ALL AGREED THAT WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO OUR DEST WITH THE REQUIRED 30 MINS OF RESERVE FUEL FOR DAY VFR FLT. OBVIOUSLY; THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. IT WAS LATER DETERMINED THAT THE C152 I WAS FLYING WAS BURNING MORE THAN THE 6.1 GPH LISTED IN THE POH. THE ACFT WAS BURNING CLOSER TO 6.8 GPH.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.