Cessna 182D N9980T accident near Oak Harbor, Washington

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper preflight fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

NTSB analysis

The commercial pilot reported that, during a skydiving flight, the engine experienced a total loss of power during final approach for landing. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a field, and during the landing sequence, the airplane impacted a tree.

No fuel was observed in the fuel tanks or fuel lines during recovery of the wreckage. Postaccident examination revealed no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The company fuel log indicated that about 18.2 gallons of useable fuel were onboard the accident airplane before the first flight of the day; the accident occurred during the third flight. Although the amount of fuel onboard would have likely been adequate for three of the operator's 20-minute average flights, several flight delays occurred, and the airplane was flown a total of 2.1 hours between the three flights. Given the airplane's average fuel consumption, the fuel consumed during the three flights closely corresponded to the fuel available at the beginning of the day. Therefore, it is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of fuel exhaustion.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR15LA201 for the full record.