Air In The Tanks

I was flying my Cessna T210R Turbo Centurion from the Westchester County Airport (KHPN) in White Plains, N.Y., to the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (KPDK) in Atlanta, Ga., on a dark night. I departed KHPN IFR but encountered unlimited visibility over North Carolina and cancelled. Before takeoff, I observed line personnel fill both fuel tanks. I had planned to have an hours fuel reserve on landing at PDK, and there hadnt been any unforecast headwinds. However, as I passed over Greenville, S.C., at 12,500 feet, both fuel gauges showed the tanks nearly empty.

Editorial Staff

Sunday, September 30, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot, despite careful fuel calculations and observing tanks being filled, experienced critically low fuel gauge readings during a night flight, prompting a precautionary landing.
The aircraft's engine failed on final approach to the chosen airport, leading to an emergency landing into treetops just short of the runway, destroying the plane but causing only minor injuries to the pilot.
Years later, the mystery of the empty fuel tanks was solved when the pilot learned that some Cessna 210s could trap air in the tanks after wing reinstallation, preventing them from being completely filled.

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I was flying my Cessna T210R Turbo Centurion from the Westchester County Airport (KHPN) in White Plains, N.Y., to the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (KPDK) in Atlanta, Ga., on a dark night. I departed KHPN IFR but encountered unlimited visibility over North Carolina and cancelled. Before takeoff, I observed line personnel fill both fuel tanks. I had planned to have an hour’s fuel reserve on landing at PDK, and there hadn’t been any unforecast headwinds. However, as I passed over Greenville, S.C., at 12,500 feet, both fuel gauges showed the tanks nearly empty.

Wiggling the fuel gauge wires behind the panel sometimes fixes an inaccurate reading, but this time there was no change. While I was confident my fuel calculations were correct, I decided to make a precautionary landing. From 12,500 feet, I could spiral down to Greenville or descend for Toccoa, Ga., some 50 nm ahead. I chose Toccoa.