Event CEN13LA565

Factual narrative

On September 25, 2013, about 1200 central daylight time, a Cessna 205, N8472Z, experienced a total loss of engine power during a visual descent to Thomas P. Stafford Airport (OJA), Weatherford, Oklahoma. The pilot performed an off airport landing to a field. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot was uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that was not operating on a flight plan. The flight originated from Cheyenne Regional Airport/Jerry Olson Field (CYS), Cheyenne, Wyoming, about 0700 mountain daylight time and was destined to OJA. The pilot stated that on September 24, 2013, he had 35 gallons of fuel added to airplane. He said after refueling, the total fuel on board was 75 gallons. On the day of the accident, he preflighted the airplane and entered the fuel added in the fuel totalizer for a total of 74.3 gallons, which he confirmed with the airplane fuel gauges. He said that the planned flight would use 52 gallons of fuel and the time en route to OJA was 3:46 hours. During the flight and about 1140, he began a descent during which the "engine sputtered." He switched from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank, and the engine ran "smoothly." The pilot stated that at this time, there was about 17 gallons of fuel remaining and 57 gallons that been used and the airplane fuel gauges showed "fuel remaining" in the left fuel tank. He continued the descent, and the engine quit about 4,000 feet mean sea level. He turned the boost pump on and turned the airplane toward OJA. He then decided to land on a field west of OJA. After landing, the fuel totalizer indicated 15.7 gallons of fuel remaining and 58.6 gallons of fuel used. The pilot stated that his recommendation of how the accident could have been avoided was: "Top off when refueling if possible instead of just replacing fuel used, gives known quantity, plus additional margin of safety." During a post-accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, approximately 3-4 gallons of fuel was drained from the left wing fuel tank and less than 1 gallon of fuel was drained from the right wing fuel tank. The airplane experienced a total loss of engine power during a descent to the planned destination airport. The pilot reported that, before departure, he had fuel added to the preexisting fuel onboard the airplane, which he "confirmed" during the preflight inspection by looking at the fuel gauges. He did not visually inspect the fuel tanks. He entered the amount of added fuel into a fuel totalizer, and the totalizer indicated that the total amount of fuel on board was greater than the amount of fuel needed for the flight. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed about 3 to 4 gallons of fuel in the left fuel tank and less than 1 gallon of fuel in the right fuel tank. Because the pilot did not visually verify the amount of fuel onboard the airplane, the fuel totalizer likely showed an inaccurate amount of fuel and led to the pilot's belief that he had sufficient fuel for the flight. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid management - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C