Fueling Blunders Quite Common in Safety Reporting System

IFR Magazine combed through ASRS reports and found that trend to be surprisingly prevalent.

Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

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Fueling the aircraft yourself with self-service pumps is a way to avoid fueling errors and maybe even save some bucks over full-service fueling. [Credit: FLYING Magazine Archive]

Key Takeaways:

Fuel exhaustion often results from inaccurate flight planning, including miscalculated fuel consumption due to factors like headwinds, incorrect aircraft capacity data, or simple arithmetic errors.
Distractions, miscommunication, and a failure to personally supervise and verify fuel type and quantity during fueling are significant causes of dangerous fueling mishaps.
Pilots must be vigilant in monitoring aircraft systems (e.g., alternators, leaks) and not over-rely on potentially inaccurate fuel gauges, while also exercising sound judgment to manage fuel reserves during unexpected operational delays or emergencies.

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Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) reports show many ways to get something simple wrong. Here you’ll see how creative errors can sneak in and deprive pilots of the fuel that keeps us airborne.

Flight Planning

A pilot encountered 32-35 knot headwinds at cruise. At 2.5 hours airborne, they decided to land for fuel because only 8 gallons remained. Fifteen minutes later, the engine failed. He landed safely on a county road and found the tanks were dry.