Cessna 182R N357HT accident near Olathe, Kansas

Probable cause

The pilot’s mismanagement of the available fuel which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

NTSB analysis

The pilot departed on a 1 hour flight. When the airplane was on final approach at the destination airport, the pilot added power because the airplane was losing altitude. However, the engine did not respond to the increase in throttle and continued to sink. The airplane landed just short of the runway, flipped over, and came to rest inverted which resulted in substantial damage.

The pilot turned the fuel selector valve to the off position immediately after the accident, so fuel selector position before the accident could not be confirmed. There was no fuel leaking out of the fuel tanks, and there was no fuel on the runway. Neither wing fuel tank was breached and when the wing tanks were drained following the accident, the right fuel tank had about 45 gallons of fuel and the left fuel tank was empty. According to the manufacturer’s pilot operating handbook (POH), each tank holds 46 gallons of fuel of which 44 gallons is usable fuel.

The fuel tanks, fuel system, and engine were examined after the accident and no mechanical failures or malfunctions were found that would have precluded normal operation.

Before departing for the 1 hour flight, the airplane was fueled with 20 gallons of fuel (10 gallons per side). The pilot said that with the 20 added gallons of fuel, he estimated that the plane had about 70 gallons (35 gallons per side) when he departed.

Performance calculations revealed that total fuel consumed for the accident flight would have been between 9.3 to 13.4 gallons of fuel. If the airplane had 70 gallons of fuel when it departed, there should have been about 56 to 60 gallons of fuel remaining (28 to 30 gallons per side).

Based on the left tank having no fuel in it after the accident and the right tank being full, it is likely that the pilot was operating on only the left fuel tank for several flights. When he departed on the accident flight, the left tank was filled with 10 gallons of fuel, which was about the amount the engine would have burned during the 1 hour flight..

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN24LA002 for the full record.