Fuel Exhaustion Forced a Piper Aztec to Land on a Highway

The first engine problem was not the final emergency

The flight began in instrument meteorological conditions with an instrument-rated private pilot intending to continue to a destination under visual flight rules. About 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot told ATC that the right engine was giving him trouble. He switched fuel tanks and turned on the fuel pumps, after which power returned. That recovery changed the immediate situation, but it did not remove the underlying problem: the aircraft had already consumed a substantial amount of usable fuel and the cause of the power interruption had not been established.

A diversion became a forced landing

The pilot soon reported that he was in IMC and asked ATC for assistance. While diverting toward another airport, he reported that both engines had lost power. With no engine power available, the aircraft was forced down onto a highway. During the landing it struck a tree and came to rest inverted beside the road. The on-scene examination found no fuel in the aircraft's fuel tanks and no evidence of fuel spillage at the accident site.

The absence of fuel was accompanied by an important negative finding. Investigators did not identify pre-impact mechanical anomalies in the engines that would have prevented normal operation. That distinction matters: the investigation did not establish a mechanical failure that independently explained the simultaneous loss of both engines. The physical evidence instead supported fuel exhaustion as the explanation for the loss of power.

Fuel Exhaustion Was the Investigation Finding

The NTSB probable-cause finding states: ‘The pilot's improper fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.’

Accident Facts

Sources

• NTSB final report ERA16LA142: https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/92897/pdf