Fuel Starvation - The Bucket List

NTSB  --   Safety Alert


The NTSB continues to take a close look at General Aviation Safety

One topic fails to be actively discussed....... Fuel Starvation/Exhaustion Incidents in General Aviation Average 2 to 3 per week and in the Top 5 of all causes.   While this is an issue for aviation safety,  it receives scant mention in the NTSB reports or in mitigation strategies.

This is not an uncommon or a glaring oversight,  most pilots, which some of the NTSB board are, will quickly point the blame at a fellow pilot for this particular accident scenario.

In this quick rush, I believe we are overlooking contributing elements in the chain of events that contribute to incidents and accidents of this type

General Aviation Safety: Climbing to the Next Level

In the NTSB Chairwoman's presentation at Oshkosh Airventure.

Aero News Network reported the following:

"Hersman said that while private flying accounts for only about half of all the flying done in the U.S., it accounts for a disproportionate number of fatal accidents, according to a study done by the NTSB. She said there are some themes that seem to crop up in many GA accident investigations that could be addressed by better pilot training and pre-flight planning. "I think that there are things that should never happen, really the easy things, and then I think there are things that are hard things, too," Hersman said. "And I think that among the things in the bucket that are easy ... fuel starvation. How many times do our investigators need to investigate an accident like that."

Press Coverage of NTSB Chairperson Barbara Hersman

I disagree with the NTSB chairpersons Barbara Hersman's response,  I believe this is one area that needs a detailed and closer look.

Fuel Starvation / Exhaustion as reported above is a common occurrence in aviation - 

The chairpersons comment in her News presentation in Oshkosh suggested that an NTSB in-depth evaluation into the causal factors of fuel starvation is not warranted by the board.

In the board GA Safety Board Meeting and the recent NTSB GA Safety Alert  - Fuel starvation was only lightly addressed there was really no mention of fuel related issues.  

I want to ask  .....  Why

Yes the unfortunate pilots that have experienced fuel starvation or exhaustion should have known how much fuel they started with, the should have checked prior to flight.  and they should have known average fuel consumption - his "maths" – Basic Pilot Skills.  Inculcated from his first training flight  

But the headline to the right says a lot about the information available to the pilot about their fuel level.

Accurate & Reliable Fuel Level in Aircraft - Is the Exception & Not the Rule. 

And in an emergency situation every pilot should know which tank has the most fuel – they need to know which tank to switch to.

Every pilot manual states that for the most engine critical procedures – Take off – Engine restart – Engine performance (spitting coughing) – switching to the fullest tank is not only required, it will save you from an incident.

If Ms. Hersman would have asked the aircraft owners in attendance at Oshkosh if they had accurate fuel level gauges – the response to that inquiry would be startling.   Accurate and reliable fuel gauges are the exception in small aircraft and not the rule.

In fact some pilots in attendance will state clearly they have accurate gauges in their aircraft as the gauge will read zero when they are out of fuel.    What they won't say is that the gauge reads zero all the time.

How can you make the determination of your available fuel or which tank had greater quantity of fuel if your gauges are erratic or of limited accuracy and why are we turning a blind eye to this in aviation.

This fundamental issue becomes very real when you read the NTSB Accident Investigation Reports that resulted from fuel starvation occurrences.   In most every cace where there was still fuel onboard the aircraft - the selector was on the dry tank -.

When almost every learning GA pilot is told not to trust the fuel level gauges – are we in aviation really surprised that fuel exhaustion occurs so often, or that a solution would fall into the "EASY" bucket. 

If technology in the form of Angle of Attack systems are indicated to help Stall Spin incidents

I am baffled why fuel level technology gets the literal  short stick.

Cirrus SR22 Avidyne G2 and 6 Pack Retrofit

We are installing the first Cirrus SR22 G2 (And G1) Retrofit sender at Professional Air In Bend, Oregon.

The new sender designs were patterned after the existing unit in the aircraft.

The new sensor utilizes our patented technology found in the latest generation Cirrus aircraft.  Additionally our sensor did not require the steady bracket seen in the upper left.

If you ever have to remove a sensor to replace a gasket for example.  The access panel will not have to be opened.

We expect to have the aircraft buttoned up early next week and ready for calibration.   

Working hard to rapidly grow our customer base.  

Cirrus Aircraft Factory Fuel Level

We have been supplying Cirrus Aircraft fuel level senders for over a year.  There have been no issues or in-field replacements.  Now that the senders have proven themselves day in and day out and showing excellent reliability and repeatability.  We can now start to exploit the advantages accurate fuel level can provide.   

In the Cirrus Aircraft Facebook post yesterday - one of these new features came to light.  

Cirrus wrote the following:

Since spring of last year, our aircraft have come equipped with fuel level sensors that read accurately at all levels. In fact, they are so accurate that we were able to integrate a fuel imbalance message on the PFD in Generation 5 aircraft. The fuel level sensors in most of our competitors’ planes only read accurately when the fuel tank is empty or full. For more on the astonishing innovations that make Cirrus an industry leader: 
http://bit.ly/YZO6rT

Better information =  "informed"  decisions

As always when you forget,  a careful reminder will get things back to normal

Overnight - The world of aviation fuel level measurement changed

Just like the classic instrument six pack.

Seemingly while you weren't looking  -   The days of simple capacitive and resistive fuel senders disappeared and were relegated to history. 

 You need only to look at the parts manuals for the latest Cirrus SR20, SR22 or Cessna 172, 182 & 206 single engine aircraft.     Take a real close look and  you will see terms like AMR and TDR  (Anisotropic Magneto Resistive & Time Domain Reflectometry).  And instead of a voltage or resistance output to be checked in the maintenance manual - you will see terms like CANBUS and Digital Frequency.  

So what changed ...... well quite a lot ...... the digital age hit fuel level.

• First ---- The FAA requires there to be working fuel gauges in aircraft.  

Fuel gauges that are accurate throughout the range.   Yes the FAA really wants accurate gauges in the aircraft not just at "Empty"

• The FAA in their regulations makes that clear -

• The pilot is required by Part 91.205 to have working fuel gauges
• The definition of working is:   Provide accurate fuel level through the  tank range.

• The aircraft manufacturer is required  by Parts 23.963, 23.1305, 23.1337, 23.1555 to provide working fuel gauges.

• These regulations very clearly indicate that the installed fuel gauges must give accurate fuel level through the whole tank range.
• Note:  Some of these requirements were recently revised.

• Second ----- The rate of fuel starvation events remained unchanged.
•  2 to 3 per week in the US 

For a long time,  excuses have been made for fuel level reporting systems in General Aviation aircraft.   

General aviation fuel gauges were (insert your own adjective) bad, pilots didn't trust them and pilots did not rely on the information they provided.   Plain and Simple 

Uncharacteristically,  the FAA turned a blind eye to the fuel level regulations they provided, tacitly acknowledging in their own documents and publications, that the state of the art was not up to the task.  

Pilots sought and effectively utilized "work arounds" - pilots relied on wristwatches only and aircraft manufacturers and avionic shops installed or incorporated fuel totalizer equipment in the aircraft.  

Iphone App showing fuel level 

Contrary to popular belief totalizers are not required equipment. but they will give pilots confidence in their fuel level.   They have proven to be accurate while in flight and provide a reliable cross check of the wristwatch fuel calculations  at any time.   You will find a fuel totalizer or range graph is on virtually every piece of modern avionic equipment.

Fuel leaking from an aircraft fuel pump

The posting on the web (pictured right) of illustrates succinctly the common complacency of having accurate gauges in the cockpit.   The particular pilot shows his "trusted" iPhone App illustrating a half tank - this app standing in stark contrast to the values depicted on the aircraft fuel gauge.

So why did the FAA really want working fuel gauges in the aircraft.  

Nothing but an actual working fuel gauge .... can tell you exactly what you actually have onboard the aircraft.   

Case in point --- Fuel leaks at a pump are one of the hazards a working gauge will detect.

You would believe that somewhere in the digital age and the era of MFD avionics, the simple fuel gauge would be relegated to the trash heap.   

However 

--- No Pilot Calculation -- 

--- No Totalizer ----

--- No Stop Watch ----

--- No Range Map ----

Only a working aircraft fuel gauge will let you know what you have in your tank and modern technology can give you that information .  

Welcome to the digital age in fuel level reporting 

   

Cirrus Retrofit Update

CIRRUS AIRCRAFT RETROFIT

Cirrus Fuel Level retrofits are now occurring throughout the world.

Wells Aircraft in Hutchinson Kansas was the latest 

Don, Scott and the rest of the team at Wells did an excellent job with the retrofit and took these pictures to show how well the system integrates to the Cirrus Aircraft 

Wells Aircraft Website


 This illustration shows the new CIES Fuel level
sensor on the Left and the replaced sensor on the Right.   Notice the increased area for fuel sealing on the new design, the smaller float and sealed Circular connector with gold plated pins.  The quality improvement is evident.

 Here is a close up of the Engine page on the MFD in the Cirrus Aircraft.  This gives you  the view of how the fuel level is depicted on the screen immediately adjacent to the Fuel Total




This illustration shows you confirmation of the fuel level remaining in the tanks as well as the fuel burned during the flight.  Given that you inputted the initial amount correctly they should match throughout the flight.



A closer view of the MFD depiction

This shows how well the new gauge integrates to the cockpit center console.  Notice that it gives you the same information as the Perspective MFD and also gives a numeric value for fuel.   If you exceed the manufacturers POH fuel imbalance the more full tank will turn yellow and flash to indicate the tank you should now select.  Simple

Another view of the Cockpit installation on the aircraft.  Notice even how well we matched the black anodizing on the instrument.   Attention to detail does not end at accurate representation of fuel level.

 Here we show the map view on the MFD with fuel level on the left side of the Perspective Screen

 A closer view of the fuel level displayed on the aircraft