A PA18 made an off airport emergency landing apparently because of fuel starvation after the pilot's...

Attributes
ACN	955465
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-18/19 Super Cub
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 1500 Flight Crew Type 1300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

I am reporting a failure to maintain a 45 minute fuel reserve for a 14 NM night VFR cross country. I am a pilot for a banner towing company. Events leading up to this include: after completion of towing the banner and landing back at my departure airport; the boss instructed me not to fuel there because the gas prices were too high; I planned to fuel at a nearby airport but the fuel tanks were locked shut and inaccessible; I was confident I could easily make a 20 NM flight to another airport to get fuel. After taking off and in cruise flight; I experienced engine failure and made an emergency landing. It is not clear if the engine died from fuel starvation or other causes but it is a possibility. No injuries.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA18 made an off airport emergency landing apparently because of fuel starvation after the pilot's boss wanted him to find less expensive fuel and when heading for the third airport in search of fuel the engine quit.

Narrative: I am reporting a failure to maintain a 45 minute fuel reserve for a 14 NM night VFR cross country. I am a pilot for a banner towing company. Events leading up to this include: after completion of towing the banner and landing back at my departure airport; the boss instructed me not to fuel there because the gas prices were too high; I planned to fuel at a nearby airport but the fuel tanks were locked shut and inaccessible; I was confident I could easily make a 20 NM flight to another airport to get fuel. After taking off and in cruise flight; I experienced engine failure and made an emergency landing. It is not clear if the engine died from fuel starvation or other causes but it is a possibility. No injuries.

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.