According to the pilot, she departed on a cross-country flight on the day of the accident.
During cruise flight at an altitude of 5,500 feet above ground level, the Cessna 177RG’s engine stopped. She was able to restart the engine and radioed “mayday” to air traffic control. The engine began to lose power again and she made a forced landing in a field near Richmond Hill, Georgia.
During the landing, the airplane was substantially damaged when the empennage hit wood debris.
During a post-accident examination of the engine, ignition, vent, and fuel systems by an FAA inspector no anomalies were found that would have precluded normal operation.
The left fuel tank was found empty. Examination of the left fuel tank drain revealed the lever was in the closed position. The fuel selector was found in the BOTH position at the accident site.
The right fuel tank was full. Approximately 35 gallons of fuel was drained from the tank.
Neither the left tank nor the right tank was breached. An examination of the fuel selector did not reveal any anomalies.
A review of fueling receipts obtained from the FBO where the pilot departed revealed the airplane was fueled with 34.8 gallons of avgas prior to departure.
In a telephone interview conducted by an FAA inspector, the pilot reported flying with the fuel selector in the BOTH position during the flight.
Section 7 in the Pilot’s Operating Handbook, states the following:
“The fuel selector valve handle should be in the BOTH position for takeoff, landing, and power-on maneuvers that involve prolonged slips or skids. During prolong climb or cruise with the fuel selector in BOTH position, an unequal fuel flow from each tank may occur if the airplane is out of trim directionally (slip indicator ball not centered) or if the fuel caps are not sealing properly. The resulting heaviness can be alleviated by turning the selector valve to the tank in the heavy wing.”
Probable Cause: The pilot’s mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in fuel starvation.
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This January 2021 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
I don’t have a 175B manual available, but I believe that single tank operation is mandated for operation of 5000 ft and above. This would apply to earlier 172/175 aircraft. Know your aircraft systems! Too many accidents are the result of inadequate fuel management and of the inability to recognize and deal with failures, should they occur.
John,
Sorry, but there is no ‘single tank’ operation noted in my 1961, C175B POH, or the 1999, C172R POH that I fly.
There is only a requirement to use ‘BOTH’ for takeoff and landing.
So, I DO know my aircraft.!
Also, I’m an FAA Safety Rep here in NorCal, and I give safety seminars/webinars, to help pilots to fly as safey.
I think this is what you are referring to; certain special conditions, which are not ‘normal’ ;
MODIFIED FUEL MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE.
With a combination of highly volatile fuel, high fuel temperature, high operating altitude, and low fuel flow rate in the tank outlet lines, there is a remote possibility of accumulating fuel vapor and encountering power irregularities on some airplanes. To minimize this possibility, the following operating procedures are recommended-
(1) Take-off and climb to cruise altitude on “both” tanks. (This is consistent with current recommendations.)
(2) When reaching cruise altitude above 5000 feet MSL, promptly switch the fuel selector valve from “both, tanks to either
the ,right” or “left” tank.
I totally love the Cardinal. But that fuel system is weird, and yes, it will drain one tank with the selector on both. You do have to watch the gauges and switch a tank periodically. Interestingly, with ours, after switching to a fuller tank and getting the flow going, from that point on it would pull down pretty evenly with the selector on Both. Most of us did a lot of training in 152s and 172s and the mindset is to leave the fuel selector alone.
So did she screw up? Maybe. Probably. But I would say it was more from lack of experience in the C177.
perhaps selector was on left tank despite her declaration and how it was found
Yes – possibly the right fuel cap wasn’t venting properly preventing fuel flow from the right tank. But as mentioned, regular monitoring should have spotted this problem developing.
Interesting report. Firstly the maximum the tank holds is 30 gallons so not sure where the other 5 gallons came from. The pilot put 34.8 gallons in the plane before departure. I doubt then tank was drained dry at filling so I’m surmising that this was divided between both tanks. How far had the aircraft flown before fuel starvation? Important to no as fuel burnt is important information. The fuel selector valve was found on both they are gravity fed tanks. So I’m not sure I can see the link that it’s the pilots fault here something else is missing in this summary.
The C77R (Cardinal RG) being hi-wing, has the fuel caps on top of the wing. In flight you can’t see those to see if they are streaming a bit of fuel. So I don’t think that this part is pilot error (said this for those who don’t know this).
However, one still needs to check the fuel gauges to be sure of what is going on. And had they set that selector to RIGHT and the engine quit, they would have known there was some problem with the right tank.
Also, if using autopilot they should have noticed a decrease in their airspeed from below what they planned for as the A/P had to bank more and more to hold course. If they were hand flying this they would have been holding a lot of right aileron or right rudder.
So after thinking about this, what the NTSB said is not quite right, but it was faulty operation by the pilot. Now had they done the test and that had been reported, the NTSB would have had to recognize the pilot was flying the plane and not a passenger having the A/P fly the plane.
A friend of mine crashed his plane after selecting a different tank in his air commander. His selector valve malfunctioned both occupants walked away. I now add switching tanks while taxing to the run up and switching at run up making sure the valve is operating properly and back to both before take off.
My Cessna 175B has a ‘both’ setting, which I always use.. Rarely will I see and feel a fuel imbalance on an x/c flight. So, I’ll fly for an hour or so on the fuller tank, to get the ‘heavy’ wing lighter.
One of the important things to check is, after a flight, is to run the engine at about 1,000 rpm and select ‘OFF’, on the fuel selector. Then time that it will take about 50 seconds for the engine to quit.
This is to ensure that both fuel valves close, which is especially important in an off airport landing.
So, 300 hours in the aircraft and the pilot can’t remember to scan the fuel gauges.?
One would show a lot of fuel, and the other showing empty.!!
Unless the pilot had the autopilot engaged, a 35-45 gallon difference would be a very noticeable heavy wing….240 lbs.!