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An AA1B pilot planned fuel stop airport no longer sold fuel and so a further destination was chosen; but he landed safely in a field short of the second airport due to lack of fuel.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 951297 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201105 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cheetah Tiger Traveler AA5 Series |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Fuel |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 1300 Flight Crew Type 400 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
This incident occurred on a beautiful sunny morning. I was flying with one passenger to a not to distant airport. I was using center flight following and asked them to allow me to descend to a nearby airport for fuel. That was oked and I contacted the airport. I was informed that the airport no longer sold aviation gas from an unknown person using the radio. He suggested another not to distant airport and I put that in my GPS and turned to that heading. My ground speed went from 110 mph to 75 mph due to a 35 mph head wind. About 10 miles from the airport the first fuel tank ran out. I told center that the first fuel tank ran out and they asked me to keep them posted. About 2 miles from the airport the second fuel tank ran out. I told center I cannot make the airport and that I would be landing in a grass field east of town. I lost contact with center since I was on the ground. I immediately called 911 to report that this was not an emergency and told them that the airplane and people are all ok. I asked them to call the center and report that we had landed in the grass field east of town and tell them that there were no injuries and no damage. Possible solution or to prevent recurrence: increase VFR fuel margins from 30 minutes to 45 minutes.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An AA1B pilot planned fuel stop airport no longer sold fuel and so a further destination was chosen; but he landed safely in a field short of the second airport due to lack of fuel.
Narrative: This incident occurred on a beautiful sunny morning. I was flying with one passenger to a not to distant airport. I was using Center flight following and asked them to allow me to descend to a nearby airport for fuel. That was OKed and I contacted the airport. I was informed that the airport no longer sold aviation gas from an unknown person using the radio. He suggested another not to distant airport and I put that in my GPS and turned to that heading. My ground speed went from 110 MPH to 75 MPH due to a 35 MPH head wind. About 10 miles from the airport the first fuel tank ran out. I told Center that the first fuel tank ran out and they asked me to keep them posted. About 2 miles from the airport the second fuel tank ran out. I told Center I cannot make the airport and that I would be landing in a grass field east of town. I lost contact with Center since I was on the ground. I immediately called 911 to report that this was not an emergency and told them that the airplane and people are all OK. I asked them to call the Center and report that we had landed in the grass field east of town and tell them that there were no injuries and no damage. Possible solution or to prevent recurrence: Increase VFR fuel margins from 30 minutes to 45 minutes.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.