When considering whether increased enforcement of the regulations would improve flight safety, the regulations that matter are already enforced by the laws of physics, and they ALWAYS catch you. If guaranteed detection and guaranteed punishment aren’t enough, good luck with that 90-day suspension: you’re dealing with someone who either has terrible judgment or who (as many of us have) just plain made a mistake. The fix isn’t to make life more of a hassle for people who aren’t trying to violate the laws of physics.

The fact is, we’re already well past the point where we have to rely on our regulators to exercise some good judgment about which regulations they enforce! (Often that works; sometimes not).

Fuel quantity is a hard problem… Aviation fuel tanks are shallow and flat. Small depth measurement errors translate into big fuel quantity measurement errors in a shallow tank; small tilts of the tank give rise to substantial depth changes at the measurement point (true no matter where you put it); and even if you have quite a bit of fuel in the tank, with some tilting of the tank you can unport the fuel pickup. In a cube-shaped tank, or even better a tall, thin tank, measuring fuel quantity is much easier. Electronics help by avoiding a different problem: the pilot who departs knowing the tank was full, but estimates the contents over time using a “gallons per hour” estimate that is wrong (either completely wrong, or wrong for the power setting or mixture setting). But directly measuring the tank contents is a hard problem.

-Enhanced technology may help with the problem (but could this lead to an over-reliance, in lieu of appropriate preparation and sound decision making.) Terrain doesn’t move from where it has been depicted on the chart. Know where it is, know where you are. Standard equipment facilitates this.
-Increased regulations or stiffer penalties: may not solve the problem as effectively as suggested …
-”If you do not use the safest decision making, comply with the regulations and excercise the best judgement both before and during the flight, … you may die and kill all those on the flight.”

Is there a greater motiviator for observing the regs and using good judgement with the safest, conservative decision-making, than the consequence being death?
Is there a greater enforcer for adequate planning, exercising caution, and operating as safely as possible, than reminding the pilot that they are responsible for the lives of those on board?

By sharing these stories, it raises the awareness of this ultimate consequence. If there are any new requirements to consider, and to avoid complacency, perhaps reading accident reports and the analysis, should be compulsory.

“Learning from past mistakes really is the best way not to become a statistic. [i]Nobody sets out to kill themselves, their passengers or their loved ones.[/i]”

Thank you. Keep up the helpful work providing the educational reminders.

May those who suffered, rest peacefully. Prayers for, and condolences to, their friends and familly. respectfully,

First thing I did was drain fuel, then climb the wing to “stick” the tanks. My wife asked, “Why are you doing that? We just landed eight hours ago with plenty of fuel!” I reminded her that the FBO facility and the tarmac were deserted, and that it was possible for someone to siphon fuel right out of our tanks. That didn’t happen, but without checking, if it had occurred, we could have simply run out of fuel during our night flight home. Had the fuel been removed by a thief, our computer still would have displayed over four hours on board. On more than one occasion, I had over twenty gallons stolen from my plane when it was not parked in my hangar.

Now for the solution… It would only take a few visits by FAA personnel to watch pilots preflight their aircraft, and then question the pilot on fuel quantity once he enters the cockpit. Same again for landing airplanes… Have an inspector request a stick gauge reading for remaining fuel on board.

Another step would be to have FAA personnel perform impromptu logbook examinations on all planes landing or preparing to depart in IMC. While this would not stop unqualified pilots from scud running in and out of private small strips, the word would get out soon enough. We all know the two fastest means of communication: Telephone and Tell-A-Pilot.

To me the number one item on the list has to be fuel exhaustion. All the things do have a hard to reduce minimum number of occurrences per year in my opinion. We can get is lower with lots of investment in training and equipment but never down to zero.

However none of us should ever run out of fuel, unless we have a major mechanical problem that siphons fuel overboard in flight or someone shot 3″ holes in our tanks.
Do electronics help ..partially. The electronics in the car someone mentioned do give you a miles remaining number…..to a point. Then it simply turns off. Because the manufacturers want to avoid someone claiming the car said such and such and I ended up short…at the side of the road.
The best systems can measure quantity in the tank with weight cells so there is no mistake to be made entering the fuel data, but a good pilot always has a backup plan….and that is as old as flying powered aircraft. How much does it burn in an hour and how much is in there. At that point all you need s a watch and possibly a calculator.

I was attending a seminar not too long ago themed “what went wrong” and in one of the interludes the FAAST rep related a story of her CFI days when she ran a Warrior out of gas on an instructional flight because she “forgot” to check the fuel before setting of. And she related it with way too much laughter for my taste.

I almost never like punishment… But I think a mandatory 6 month suspension if you do run out of gas should be a really good deterrent.

However, ramp checking a Part91 VFR flight is only marginally helpful because you can legally arrive with less than 30/45 minutes in your tanks…you just need to be able to prove that you planned with due diligence and mother nature simply did not comply with the forecast….remember the flight plan has to show you arriving with that reserve….not the actual flight.

Happy Flying…and for heavens sake check the fuel and land short if in doubt. It really does not take that long to fill up.

Stefan

* Fly at least 1000ft above the highest object within a 2000ft radius (no reason NOT to talk to ATC). when planning my x-country flights, I look at the height of obstacles along my route and plan my cruise altitude carefully. There was no reason for the pilot of the arizona flight to be as low as he was. Im sure the mountains are on the sectional. His altimeter setting had to be way off if he was less than 1000ft above the mountains.

* Dont rely on technology for fuel burn or quantity. Have at least 1 hour fuel reserves at day or night – even then you cant be sure the aircraft was level when visually checking the fuel on the ground during preflight, so believe the reserve doesnt exist. If Im flying for 2 hours, you bet I have more than 3 hours of fuel, if not a fuel tank (if taking people makes my fuel quantity to low, then I dont go).. Winds not as Forecast, improper leaning, and deviations can all eat up what fuel you thought you had.

* Unless you are staying local, file a flight plan and contact ATC for flight following!

In response to the comment above that all pilots should be IFR rated and that VFR is for joy riding… I do perfectly fine flying VFR cross country at night… I use VOR radials, GPS, and whatever tools I can, and contact ATC for flight following. I am handed off between Atlanta Center, RDU, Washington Center, Norfolk, etc. so Im in constant contact and know what traffic and terrain/obstacles are around me. The system works for VFR pilots IF you use it. The pilot in command has the responsibility to the safe operation of the aircraft. We had an IFR rated club member go down from fuel exhaustion after a long flight from New England to Virginia…just because you are IFR rated, doesnt make you immune. Things happen because people exceed limitations set by SOPs and regulations. Set limitations for yourself and adhere to them!