Cessna 310 N8080M accident near Charleston, South Carolina

Probable cause

The pilot’s fuel mismanagement during flight, resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

NTSB analysis

The pilot departed on a cross-country flight with both of the multiengine airplane’s main and auxiliary fuel tanks filled to capacity. Data recovered from an electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS) showed that the airplane departed and climbed to cruise altitude. About 45 minutes into the flight, fuel ceased being drawn from the main fuel tanks and began being drawn from the auxiliary fuel tanks. This continued for about 30 minutes until the quantity of fuel in the auxiliary tanks was exhausted, as indicated by both the fuel quantity parameters for those tanks and the fuel flow parameters for both engines. About the time the engines began losing power, the pilot contacted air traffic control and was provided with radar vectors to the nearest airport. Witnesses who heard the airplane flying shortly before the accident described that the rpm of both engines were increasing and decreasing, as if the engines were being starved of fuel. The airplane subsequently impacted trees and terrain about ¼-mile from the runway at the diversion airport.

Examination of the wreckage at the accident revealed that all four fuel tanks had sustained damage during the impact and that there was fuel on the ground beneath the wreckage. Additional examination of the airframe and both engines revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures, and that the fuel selectors for both engines were positioned to the auxiliary fuel tanks. Based on this information, and the recorded data, it is likely that the pilot departed on the accident flight with the main fuel tanks selected, and that about 45 minutes into the flight, transitioned the fuel selectors to the auxiliary fuel tanks. After the available supply of fuel in those tanks had been exhausted, the pilot failed to reselect the main fuel tanks. This resulted in fuel starvation to both engines and a subsequent total loss of engine power.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA20LA132 for the full record.