Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB WPR21LA097
CESSNA 170A — Port Angeles, WA
| Date | January 27, 2021 |
| Location | Port Angeles, WA |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 170A |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute-cruise Fuel exhaustion |
| Pilot age | 38 |
| Pilot total time | 650 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
- Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
What happened
The pilot had departed on a long cross-country flight and stopped to refuel at which point he filled up both wing tanks and the pilot had modified the airplane with a tank in the fuselage. During the flight, the pilot sent text messages to a family member expressing concerns about having enough fuel to complete the flight. The pilot texted that the headwinds were stronger than he expected, he was encountering turbulence, and he was having to maneuver around clouds. Radar data showed that the airplane was over a 10 nautical mile wide body of water when the pilot made a mayday call stating that he was going into the water. The airplane ditched in the sea and was never recovered.
The search and rescue efforts did not locate the airplane.