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:

An experienced pilot, despite ordering fuel, suffered a dual engine failure mid-flight in his Cessna P337 Skymaster, attributed to fuel exhaustion caused by faulty gauges and a lack of visual tank inspection.
The pilot successfully executed an unpowered emergency landing at a remote airport, ensuring the safety of himself and his passengers.
The incident taught the pilot the critical importance of always visually verifying fuel tank levels, regardless of relying on fuel calculations or FBO assurances.

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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.