Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB ERA10LA442
STINSON 108 — Andrews, SC
| Date | August 25, 2010 |
| Location | Andrews, SC |
| Aircraft | STINSON 108 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Takeoff Fuel exhaustion |
| Pilot age | 66 |
| Pilot total time | 200 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
Loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the student pilot's failure to adequately preflight the airplane prior to takeoff.
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
What happened
Shortly after takeoff, the airplane lost power and collided with trees. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no fuel in the left wing fuel tank and approximately 1 to 3 gallons of fuel in the right wing fuel tank. The airplane's certificate holder stated that the unusable fuel for the airplane's configuration was 2 gallons per tank. Had the student pilot checked the fuel tanks prior to takeoff, he would have noted that there was little fuel in the tanks. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction was found.