While the National Transportation Safety Board does not normally determine a probable cause for an aircraft accident for months, or sometimes years after an event, the preliminary report the Board released of a July 11, 2019, accident involving an Icon A5 made it clear the pilot did not understand how to calculate the airplane’s actual fuel consumption in a variety of conditions. The Icon’s 100-hp Rotax 912iS engine quit as the airplane approached a 3-mile left base leg for Runway 16 at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) just prior to darkness. Investigators found the Icon’s fuel tank to absolutely dry. The pilot escaped unharmed, but the A5 was destroyed when the aircraft struck trees and terrain in a nearby forest preserve.
NTSB Points to Pilot Error in Icon Crash Near Chicago
Key Takeaways:
- An Icon A5 crashed due to fuel exhaustion after the pilot miscalculated fuel consumption for a July 2019 flight, resulting in the aircraft being destroyed.
- The pilot operated the aircraft's engine at nearly maximum power for over half the flight, significantly increasing the actual fuel burn to 6.9-7.1 gph, contrary to the 4.8 gph economy setting used for flight planning.
- Although the flight planning software calculated 13 gallons for the trip, expecting a 4-gallon reserve from the 17 gallons on board, the high-power operation led to the fuel tank being completely dry upon impact.
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