A Pilot's Fueling Mystery Explained

Pilot recalls a lesson learned about tanks from a dead stick landing.

Kevin Capozzi

Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 09:55 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

Harrowing experience teaches pilot a valuable lesson—always check your tanks. [Illustration: Joel Kimmel]

Key Takeaways:

A pilot experienced a dual-engine failure in his Cessna P337 Skymaster mid-flight at 16,500 feet due to suspected fuel exhaustion.
Despite ordering fuel and having unreliable gauges, the pilot neglected to visually inspect the fuel tanks before departing, leaving uncertainty about whether the fuel was added.
The pilot successfully executed an emergency landing at the nearest airport, emphasizing the critical lesson of always personally verifying fuel levels regardless of FBO assurance.

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Aviation has always been a part of my life.

My father owned multiple airplanes over the years, including a Beech Staggerwing (which I never saw), a Ryan Navion, turbo Apache, Twin Bonanza 1, Twin Bonanza 2 (H50), Commander 680FLP, Commander 680V (with the “Century” conversion installed), and finally a Twin Commander 690B. He was in the Canadian Air Force as a World War II radar service technician. He loved aviation and KF Aerospace started out of his hangar at Kelowna International Airport (CYLW) in British Columbia.