At approximately 11:00 MST, a Cessna P210N was damaged in a forced landing near Gillette, but the two occupants were not injured. The pilot said he had ordered the plane refueled the day before for a flight from Pontiac, Mich., to Sheridan, Wyo., and records showed 95 gallons were added to the tanks. He calculated the 1,026 nm flight would take 5.7 hours and concluded he would land at Sheridan with more than an hour of fuel remaining. When the airplane was one hour from the destination, he determined that the fuel gauges looked suspiciously low and he diverted to Gillette. The airplane ran out of fuel and landed in hilly terrain about a mile from the airport.
March 2, Gillette, Wyo. / Cessna 210
At approximately 11:00 MST, a Cessna P210N was damaged in a forced landing near Gillette, but the two occupants were not injured. The pilot said he had ordered the plane refueled the day before for a flight from Pontiac, Mich., to Sheridan, Wyo., and records showed 95 gallons were added to the tanks. He calculated the 1,026 nm flight would take 5.7 hours and concluded he would land at Sheridan with more than an hour of fuel remaining. When the airplane was one hour from the destination, he determined that the fuel gauges looked suspiciously low and he diverted to Gillette. The airplane ran out of fuel and landed in hilly terrain about a mile from the airport....
Key Takeaways:
- A Cessna P210N made a forced landing near Gillette due to fuel exhaustion, resulting in damage to the aircraft but no injuries to its two occupants.
- The pilot had miscalculated fuel requirements for his 1,026 nm flight, believing he would have over an hour of fuel remaining despite ordering 95 gallons.
- After noticing suspiciously low fuel gauges an hour from his destination, the pilot diverted but the plane ran out of fuel about a mile short of Gillette airport.
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