Champion 7ECA N9566S accident near Starkville, Mississippi

Probable cause

The total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision not to visually confirm the remaining fuel onboard during the intermediate stop.

NTSB analysis

The pilot was conducting a cross-country flight when, after 4.5 hrs of flight and about 15 miles short of the destination, the engine lost all power. He stated that the right fuel tank quantity gauge "slammed" to empty as he maneuvered for landing following the loss of engine power and the left tank gauge was between 1/8-tank and empty. The airplane impacted trees during the forced landing and both wings separated from the fuselage. No evidence of fuel was found at the accident site; however, the wreckage was disposed of before any additional examinations could be conducted.

The pilot stated that the airplane's fuel tanks were filled to capacity before departure, and that his preflight fuel planning indicated that he would reach the destination airport with about 1 hour of fuel remaining. During the flight, he made an unplanned stop at an intermediate airport after about 3 hours but opted not to add fuel based on his preflight planning and the fuel gauges, which indicated that the tanks were half full. The fuel planning figures provided by the pilot postaccident were consistent with the fuel planning data contained in the pilot's operating handbook for a more powerful engine. The combined or individual effects of headwind, inflight engine power settings, and the pilot's fuel mixture leaning practices on the actual fuel consumption of the accident flight could not be determined, thus it is not known why the airplane consumed significantly more fuel during the flight than the pilot planned, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. It is possible that the accident may have been prevented if the pilot had verified the amount of fuel onboard or added additional fuel during the intermediate stop.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN20LA036 for the full record.