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Approach Fuel

Frank Anton, head of eAircraft for Siemens
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Inadequate preflight fuel planning and fuel management are critical pilot responsibilities, with fuel exhaustion and starvation being significant causes of engine-failure mishaps.
  • A fatal multi-engine aircraft accident, which killed all six occupants, occurred due to the pilot's inadequate fuel planning and management, resulting in dual engine fuel exhaustion during an instrument approach in IMC.
  • Contributing to the crash was the pilot's failure to properly configure the airplane for one-engine inoperative flight (e.g., not feathering the propeller, extending flaps) and maintain minimum controllable airspeed, leading to a loss of control.
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Ensuring there is fuel aboard the airplane adequate for the planned flight is a basic, primary responsibility for any pilot. Unfortunately, the accident record tells us it’s one responsibility not all pilots fulfill. In our experience, fuel exhaustion, starvation or simple mismanagement accounts for a healthy proportion of engine-failure mishaps. This is true despite the event being resolved without anyone except the pilot knowing about it, or the NTSB opening an accident investigation. While fuel-system complexity can be an argument in defense of any failure to meet this basic requirement, it ultimately falls down because ensuring enough of the stuff is aboard and gets to the engine(s) is always the pilot’s responsibility. And you did read the POH/AFM, and perform a preflight inspection before climbing in, right?

Meanwhile, one reason multi-engine airplanes exist is for the peace of mind the additional powerplant(s) bring to the table. Of course, that only works well when we maintain our skills at flying with one engine inoperative, especially in a high-workload environment. Like when shooting an approach in actual IMC. Losing an engine at such a point can end well if everything else comes together. Here’s an example where it didn’t.

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