When my student crashed last week, I was one of the first to know. After experiencing relief that there were no injuries and disappointment that the Tecnam P2002 Sierra likely would not fly again, an unsettling feeling—was there something more I could have done?—took over. Maybe by relating in detail what happened, what decisions the pilot did and didn’t make, and how it all applies to the rest of us, there is.
On one level, I wish there was some element of this tale that would uncover a heretofore unknown vulnerability, a gap in our training and proficiency regime, or a hidden design flaw. There isn’t. Instead, this accident resulted from your basic, run-of-the-mill fuel exhaustion. The airplane used up all of the fuel aboard, the engine stopped producing power and gravity took over. It’s that simple.
