GA small aircraft off airport landing due to fuel exhaustion.

Attributes
ACN	170914
Time
Date	199102
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : t72
State Reference	TX
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 1000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, High Wing, 1 Eng, Fixed Gear
Flight Phase	cruise other cruise other
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 30 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 25
ASRS Report	170914
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact none taken : unable
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Publication	Unspecified

Narrative:

Flying on airplane with usable fuel different from what was in the flight manual. Being an older aircraft the plane's flight manual was very misleading. I was asked by a friend to fly his airplane on a search mission for a lost aircraft. A law officer was in the plane and when the plane was found we had to stay in the area longer to direct the ground officers to the area. When the aircraft ran out of fuel the owner of the aircraft had figured we had 1 hour remaining fuel. After investigating the plane there was quite a bit of unusable fuel in the tanks that the flight manual did not state.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA SMA OFF ARPT LNDG DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION.

Narrative: FLYING ON AIRPLANE WITH USABLE FUEL DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WAS IN THE FLT MANUAL. BEING AN OLDER ACFT THE PLANE'S FLT MANUAL WAS VERY MISLEADING. I WAS ASKED BY A FRIEND TO FLY HIS AIRPLANE ON A SEARCH MISSION FOR A LOST ACFT. A LAW OFFICER WAS IN THE PLANE AND WHEN THE PLANE WAS FOUND WE HAD TO STAY IN THE AREA LONGER TO DIRECT THE GND OFFICERS TO THE AREA. WHEN THE ACFT RAN OUT OF FUEL THE OWNER OF THE ACFT HAD FIGURED WE HAD 1 HR REMAINING FUEL. AFTER INVESTIGATING THE PLANE THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF UNUSABLE FUEL IN THE TANKS THAT THE FLT MANUAL DID NOT STATE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.