Accident Case Study: Faulty Assumptions

[@cisco747]

I personally flew with this pilot on several occasions. He was always very meticulous and every time I went with him, flew by the book. But, at the same time, all it takes is that one time, that time you get complacent, or push just a little more than the last time. Good friend and a great guy, but also a lesson that we should all learn from.

[@illustrious1]

It's so sad to see a good pilot leave us this way.

[@banjo2019]

So sorry to his loved ones for his loss. By studying his very human mistakes that any of us are capable of making, may his loss save the lives of others.

[@terracotta6294]

@@banjo2019 Why is it easier for you to have faith in the report rather than faith in a PROVEN PILOT, far from stupid? A defective fuel gauge - unnoticed - is STUPID! He keeps track of fueling and what he estimates he needs! If the last time he fueled, he expected to need 40 gallons and had to get 60 - that's a RED FLAG his fuel gauge isn't working! He can also calculate estimates based on mileage - so what's next? BS about defective mileage? They lied about September 11, so don't expect them to be reliable now because the DEFECTIVE report on September 11 was NEVER CORRECTED!

[@Trevor-gu8bb]

Was this some charter company plane?

[@WeddingVegetables]

@@terracotta6294 Go outside, get some air.

[@gamewish]

Can someone tag Netflix to start a weekly series on this? Best narrator, research and presentation in the industry

[@reinhart482]

There’s a plethora of GA crashes to analyze.

[@terrymichael5821]

Why when there is already a commercially created series on Aviation Safety and Accidents for the past 14+ years now??

[@belewis]

@@terrymichael5821 What's it called? I can't imagine one being as good as this one

[@wufongtanwufong5579]

Netflix will find a way to ruin it.

[@andrewstewart62]

Don’t put this information behind a paywall, everyone needs to be able to access the mistakes of others so we may learn from them

[@steveo1kinevo]

Heartbreaking that this accident happened. Please continue to make these videos as every pilot can learn from watching them and it will hopefully saves lives in the future.

[@bruschi8148]

I agree 100%..This is such a great series!

[@furyofbongos]

Yes. We may never know how many have already been saved by these videos. I'm sure it's > 0.

[@delsawyer3871]

By this pilots fuel management practices it seams he was taught to mange fuel from zero gallons. It looks like a better method may be to estimate fuel from full tanks, at least on occasion. This would give a reasonable approach to a more accurate accountability of fuel volume remaining.

[@jayjones761]

MP

[@adotintheshark4848]

5 more gallons of fuel and this video wouldn't have been needed.

[@pilotryan1639]

This one hit home, I fly a baron and I know that feeling of “I should’ve taken 10 more gallons” I’ve also traded weight for fuel before and when I landed I swore on my life I would never do that again. This video solidified that thought and definitely humbled me some more. I appreciate these videos because younger pilots can learn from mistakes that can cost lives.

[@Mike-zf4xg]

kuck pilot.

[@alanschtein2210]

@@Mike-zf4xg lmao

[@pilotgirl5953]

I had that bad gut feeling once and vowed to never repeat it. I never have!

[@edb7742]

Why does the tradeoff of fuel and cargo have to be made this close? Are the fuel tanks on a Baron smaller than they should be?

[@orangestoneface]

@@edb7742 dont think so its just the desire to bring all pepole that want to come, get paid for that too, but that should never be done. should have left one or rather two persons and filled up with same weigth in fuel, the limiting factor is weight, even three persons. so all those seats filled are just for very short flights.

[@billbrisson]

sad tale... A wise old pilot once told me "the only time you have too much gas onboard is when you're on fire"

[@billbrisson]

@@baseballlife5884 they run out of fuel enough as it is, giving them the ability to dump fuel will not help, also they use gasoline and fly at significantly lower altitudes... dropping gas all over the place is probably not a good idea

[@billbrisson]

@@baseballlife5884 meh.... I'll get over it

[@brianwilkins5673]

Too much fuel can hinder your climb when trying to reach certain flight levels as well.

[@billbrisson]

@@brianwilkins5673 I'm thinking it was a little tongue in cheek

[@brianwilkins5673]

@@billbrisson is that your RV Bill?

[@ZavierBrewer]

I have waited so many many months for more case study stories. They are incredibly wow and they teach so much. They remind me to not skip anything and go to the letter, giving a reality check. Thank you, and I hope and wish more are to come and sooner. absolutely incredible work!

[@mouser485]

I agree. I wish they’d do them more often because, unfortunately, there’s plenty of source material to draw from.

[@blaquentgruppe6547]

You not alone I love this channel .story on soccerTEAM running out of fuel be nice touch

[@cannkill62]

This also mean, if we want more content, we need accident...Even if thoses videos are great materials, we should avoid generating them.

[@rvstube2010]

true that. I am also pleased that it is still Morgan Freeman who narrates it.

[@wwilcox2726]

@@rvstube2010 I don't know who the the narrator is, but I do know it isn't Morgan Freeman. Close, but not Morgan.

[@TakingOff]

Great video and a great reminder to not just make assumptions. As a pilot who regularly relies on my engine monitor for my fuel amounts, a chilling reminder to check the actual levels before every flight.

[@Kenriko]

I wish they made these more often. They are binge watch quality content.

[@patchescessna7348]

Always stick the tanks 😊 Safe flights!

[@jimjones3516]

I find it strange that supposedly intelligent people would make this mistake, you guys must have no mechanical knowledge.

[@909busa]

I only trust the stick.

[@JustMe00257]

Dripstick... A life saver.

[@zyrrhos]

I love the narrator's voice. Calm, authoritative and compassionate.

[@robertphelan262]

Very soothing I fall asleep to this whole Playlist 25 videos I'm usually gone by the third one lol,I very much agree with your comment 👍

[@firstroundko108]

Reminds me of the Forensic Files narrator

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

Agree. Just excellent. Perfect for this series.

[@electriccarguestdrive3373]

The narrator is Walter L Travis Jr. Agree, he’s superb. Pitch perfect.

[@antoniobranch]

"You guys and gals don't nearly make enough of these safety videos, and I support AOPA".

[@brucesmith9144]

Sad thing is, for each video there is a personal tragedy involved

[@pilotgirl5953]

I fly a Baron, exact fuel is always a challenge. When I am in doubt I fuel to the max then reset my fuel computer. These lessons keep reminding me of my choices and when I have to make a decision, I error on the conservative side, even if it is disappointing to the passengers. Thanks for posting, excellent.

[@edb7742]

Would you please expand on why knowing the exact fuel in a Baron is always a challenge? Is there a design limitation in the aircraft? Thank you

[@John44004]

Hey, just an old guy here, don`t fly, but find these vids very interesting. Seems to (I know easy to say) me top off those damn tanks ! when I run low on gas in my van, darn next station I`ll pull in, but you guys haha no way, again easy for me to say but.....no second chances for you guys ! Happy flying.

[@Mr_Bones.]

@@edb7742 Simple explanation is that ALL fuel gauges everywhere are unreliable and cannot be trusted. Right tank on my C172M reads 3/4 when topped off. Ive been in Piper’s where the fuel gauge reads full after two hours of touch n gos. Best way to keep track of gas is to have a fuel burn journal. However the documentation before the accident in this video was off from a previous miscalculation in records.

[@edb7742]

@@Mr_Bones. Thank you

[@ylnodnaenoeht]

Agree. God bless you ❤ Amen ❤

[@SmileAndWave]

These are great videos. I'm not a pilot, nor have I ever trained but I find these videos super interesting to learn about.

[@colatrl.damg3167]

same deal - there's something powerful about the videos. Maybe we're all feeling our own mortality watching these disasters, especially listening to the voices of people we know are about to leave this Earth. Profound, educational, and something I can't quite put my finger on....

[@shaneb395]

Same I really enjoy these videos and the nartirarion

[@tyler1480]

Agree

[@reshpeck]

Likewise. I'm subscribed to half a dozen aviation channels (The Flight Channel, Mentour, 74Gear, etc.) and I'm ineligible to be a pilot by virtue of color blindness, nor have I ever really been interested in becoming one. But this sure is interesting content!

[@oxthemoron]

Agreed. I’d like to fly some day but watching these videos makes me only want to do it if I can give it the time and attention it deserves. I’m busy right now and have a lot of hard deadlines that would have get-there-itis. Maybe when I retire, if I have the funds, I’ll pick up and learn on a DA-40. For me it would be a total luxury, because I would not want to take any necessary trips with hard deadlines in the plane. I’d even want to be able to cancel or delay if I didn’t sleep well the night before or if the weather wasn’t 100%. And right now I can’t have vacations with three day windows on either end. It’s easier to drive or fly commercial.

[@felixbaxter352]

I've worried mightily when the gas gauge in my car dips into the red. I cant even imagine the sweat that I would break if it happened "up there".

[@orvilleh.larson7581]

If you're driving and a problem develops, you pull over to the curb and get out. If you're flying and something goes haywire at 10,000 feet . . . well, it'll be an interesting experience for all concerned. . . .

[@topspot4834]

Good point. No calling AAA when you're in the sky!

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

I have the same anxiety just flying a drone. When the battery reaches "critical", it definitely changes one's focus. The huge difference of course, is that if the drone dies, I have to go find it, and hope it's not broken. Only my ego gets hurt.

[@robertadams2857]

I don’t know who the narrator is but his voice and technique is spot on. A pleasure to watch and listen to these instructional videos. Thank you

[@documax123]

I have a funny feeling this is the narrator guy in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJrMenWwZqZ4pLM

[@rykehuss3435]

@@documax123 Yeah its Paul

[@documax123]

@@rykehuss3435 oh, thank you. Yes, he's a great narrator on these.

[@dryan8377]

@@documax123 Oh hell no it ain't Paul.

[@documax123]

@@dryan8377 really?

[@michaelbogino2473]

There is truly no other channel that excites me more when a new video is released. The opportunity to learn, even at another’s catastrophic mistake, is something that no person, pilot or not, should ever pass up. Thank you Air Safety Institute for your continued dedication to producing quality content. You really are saving lives.

[@moxievintage1390]

Absolutely agree; they're saving Lives. The amount of helpful, specific info they reveal is incredible. Making use of someone's devastating experience, in order to help others, is still an exercise in walking a fine line. And these folks have that act down PAT. 👏🏽

[@TheFoyer13]

For some reason the algorithm thought I didn't want to see these anymore. I had to search this one out because I thought "hey it's been a minute since I've watched an accident case study video". I love watching them too but at the same time it makes me sad a new one had to be made. It's a weird relationship I have with this channel.

[@skydvrboy]

I too love these videos. But in this one, I think they missed a great opportunity to talk more about the mountain flying mistakes. They make it sounds like his fate was sealed when he departed, but this is far from the case. Instead of circling over the airport to climb, he could have used ridge lift to climb more effectively. Instead of flying over the valley, he should have been flying over the ridges. This always gives you a safe place to turn out, etc. Many more lessons from this than the four relatively vague ones they offered.

[@Paddave]

@@skydvrboy speaking of mistakes….posting to the wrong video is another :)

[@skydvrboy]

@@Paddave Not sure how that happened. I was watching the recent video "Into Thin Air." Thanks for letting me know my comment ended up on the wrong video.

[@asarangan]

As a pilot who sometimes pushed the limits of fuel, similar to this guy, this one sent a chill up my spine. These videos probably have saved more lives than we would ever know. Thank you for producing these.

[@animula6908]

Fuel doesn’t sound like a thing with pushable limits to my untrained ears. You either have enough to continue powered flight, or else you don’t, in which case you come down on the green initiative known as gravity. I don’t even understand how so many pilots see this as a negotiation of some kind. It must be way more complicated than it looks to a civilian, because all the pilots seem to think so. But allow me to suggest that y’all keep it simple, stupid. Think like the ignorant in this case, and you’ll never be trying to put your plane in neutral and push it off to the shoulder like this. 👍🏻 ❤

[@TheAirplaneDriver]

Like most aviation accidents, it is not the first mistake that gets you....it is the second, or third. Great video.

[@jesse00pno]

The narrator is the primary reason I watch these presentations. I’m not even a pilot. lol

[@bushido6882]

I’ve watched seven of these videos in a row. I’m attending Embry-Riddle next month after serving 9 years in the Marine Corps. In the Marines we always say safety is paramount and religiously weigh risk/reward using an operational risk management matrix. No amount of ego will prevent me from being the safest pilot every flight. Godspeed to those lost in all of these videos.

[@flightsimfantasy9798]

i like how they used the new Microsoft flight sim !!! its looking clean in this study!

[@therealsnow]

@@baseballlife5884 It really depends on the addon aircraft, sure perhaps the default GA aircraft in Xplane fly a little more realistically but I have faith more realistic addon aircraft for MSFS will get here. Personally i think the 172 in MSFS flys just fine and I've used it for VFR cross country familiarisation before doing the flight in the actual aircraft. I've never thought, wow this feels off, when using it in MSFS. Besides that, controllers like yokes or whatnot are never really going to feel exactly like the real aircraft anyhow. Simulators are great procedure trainers but are no substitute for learning to fly real aircraft.

[@AbnEngrDan]

I'm amazed that a pilot with this much experience and time 'made the trade'. Can't bow to compromise. As soon as checked the forecast in Kerrville he had to know, at least in part, what was coming.

[@CLdriver1960]

I’ve said it before: this is why I’m an AOPA member. Well done!

[@Thecloudsshepherd]

Great video, I love the voice of the speaker

[@risknerd1772]

Best video produced by AOPA to date, IMHO. The pilot of this aircraft was a good man (I had met him on a couple of occasions at his hangar), a very experienced pilot, and a friend of a friend of mine, who co-owned a Bonanza with him. Sadly, he was trying to please his 5 passengers and had tragic results.

[@gringoloco8576]

NEVER PLEASE PASSENGERS. This was such poor piloting...not even having legal reserves. You shouldn't even push it that much, leave yourself at least an hour. Yes I'm a pilot so I can speak here :)

[@xbpbat21x]

@@gringoloco8576 Wow...a pilot AND an arm chair quarterback...

[@Jdubbz89]

@@xbpbat21x Every time something like this happens it's important to point out all the mistakes that were made so we can learn from them. Unfortunately, the mistakes made here are not new. Not only was he illegally flying IFR by not carrying enough fuel for 45 mins reserve he took off either without calculating weight and balance or did so knowing he was out of tolerances on BOTH. Both cases are absolutely unacceptable. 7 people would be alive today had he made the right call and scrubbed the flight or made two trips.

[@xbpbat21x]

@@Jdubbz89 I get tired of all these "perfect" pilots on their pedestal. I don't know these dick holes from Adam. For all I know, they are talking about their sim flight trips. The mistakes are pointed out in the video. I don't need to know how perfect a pilot you are, or how bad a pilot this guy was. Do your learning in the air, not in the comment section.

[@kurtisf3366]

@@xbpbat21x It’s our responsibility to learn from other’s mistakes. In aviation we don’t get the chance to make these mistakes for ourselves as you tend not to live through them. Obviously we should respect the dead but at the same time there was an aspect of negligence here that cost 7 people their lives. For me the key lesson here is that pushing the limits even just a little can be deadly. I have been tempted to push the fuel limits myself, but this story reinforced that we often don’t have an accurate measure of exactly how much fuel is really in the tank.

[@scofab]

And as my first instructor told me... 'You can only fly the plane you're in, not the one you wish you were in'. Great videos, thanks again.

[@jamsaanich4993]

World class narration, research and writing.

[@FightingFather85]

Thank you for making videos again

[@occyman]

Very sad... Ive been flying for forty years and have about the same hours as this poor chap. I’ve had a couple of high time very competent and meticulous pilot friends make simple errors that cost them their and their passengers lives. So glad these videos come out so we can all learn and keep being reminded.

[@renodemona]

Thank you for continuing the series. As soon as you mentioned Baron with 6 people I knew it was going to be an issue.

[@russellbedell8198]

An older Baron would have no problem. I fly an old D-55 and 6 people that weigh 200 pounds, you’ll only be a few gallons short of the 136 useable. Every airplane type gets heavier as they get newer.... sadly.

[@yamkaw346]

@@russellbedell8198 I understand that for cars but why does that happen for airplanes?

[@CyberSystemOverload]

@@yamkaw346 Usually bigger more powerful engines, a stronger structure, internal customizations (a simple thin basic seat vs a fancy leather one) now imagine 4 seats like that. Each one adding weight. FInally lets not forget people. Obesity is rising, everywhere you look bellies hanging out. I see cop shows on TV and I doubt many of them could run 30cm without fainting.

[@davidpartridge9459]

@@russellbedell8198 thanks for pointing that out! Must say I was scratching my head as to why this Baron seemingly couldn't cope with 6 people and the legal fuel required for about 70 minutes? I used to ride in a D55 in PNG, P2-MFA, beautiful aeroplane!

[@bigbaddms]

@@davidpartridge9459 thought the same thing myself! They make a 6 seater that can only fly for an hour, with weight within the margins? Seems crazy. Something doesn't compute. That's a million $$ + aircraft with little utility, when being used as designed.

[@danni1993]

I love listening to the narrator...great voice. It's been SO long waiting for a new video.

[@gpd456]

I wonder how many pilots have found themselves flying and noticing things going wrong who when they start to talk themselves into pressing ahead vs safer action have started hearing that narrator's voice and decided to land and fix things instead.

[@Flying_Snakes]

When you hear that voice, you know it is not going to be a happy ending.

[@AmericanPiddler]

I am currently working on my Private License & find every one of these useful & a great reminder that we should never grow complacent or arrogant!

[@ronduncan9527]

Wish you’d do more accident case study videos. They are interesting and a good teaching tool!

[@Mr7o4]

It's a 178 miles to Kerrville, we have a quarter tank of gas, we're overweight, out of balance, and we're wearing sunglasses.

[@StanBarankiewicz]

So sad that a highly experienced ATP commits such grave, overt errors, especially with pax on board. I love the narrator's voice! I always look forward to these. Such great teaching moments and fantastic quality productions. Already looking forward to the next one!

[@chuckschillingvideos]

Yep. Arguably, the deaths of the passengers are not accidental but homicides. Gross negligence on the pilot's part.

[@ToddWheeler253]

Hey Narrator. You are amazing. That is all.

[@electriccarguestdrive3373]

The narrator is Walter L Travis Jr

[@electriccarguestdrive3373]

Yes, he is amazing. The best.

[@Merdock-yp2xj]

Hopefully flight schools require students to watch every single one of these videos , so educational

[@stuart8663]

Stunning graphics. Thankyou for such a professional presentation done with dignity

[@jimrossi7708]

As a tractor trailer driver who drove between 2500 miles to 3800 miles a week, I make sure I always fuel up before departing for the day and then fuel at any terminal I stopped at and I if was below 1/2 or if I deemed I may have a very long leg before my next scheduled stop, if I needed to lose some weight then I lost some weight or had a nice talk with my safety department, of course driving a big rig (I had 2 - 150 gallon tanks) and flying a plane are 2 different things but I never wanted to have no fuel, especially in the winter/mountains, plus I always carried bottles of fuel deicer, didn’t trust fuel stations even up north !! R.I.P. to those who lost their lives !

[@CyberSystemOverload]

The production quality and animations are next level in this video. MSFS really brings the accidents tragically to life. First red flag would be 5 pax and the overweight airplane. More lives needlessly lost, passengers literally put their precious lives in our hands when we take them up. We must uphold safety to the highest. Unfortunately as we all know - there will be more of these crashes. Lots more.

[@colin-nekritz]

So many things went wrong it's a sobering reminder that number of air hours = good pilot. Not only did he not accurately calculate the fuel and overload the aircraft, he left flaps down as the air speed dropped while knowing he had to keep the plane in the air (a rather rookie mistake for a seasoned pilot) he overlooked feathering the stopped engine greatly increasing drag, and, in the end, he has a false sense of “I’m gonna make it” as the correct decision of “clearly running out of fuel, find a place, a road, a field, any potentially survivable place to put the aircraft down, putting his thoughts of trying not to damage his plane before his passenger’s lives and his. It’s a tragedy with a single point failure and then a series of compounding errors, some of which could have altered the outcome and lives lost.

[@CyberSystemOverload]

@@colin-nekritz Yes, emergency procedures should be drilled frequently so they become an automatic response. When I used to fly small planes I used to sit in them on the ramp for an hour every week and go thru emergency steps until I had it down to seconds. We can learn a lot from military and airline pilots who have to memorize crucial emergency procedures. In the manuals it even states "MEMORY ITEM" in the emergency section.

[@aviatorel32]

These AOPA videos are so educational. Pilot would have been better off fuelling and departing with slight overweight, or better yet leaving one passenger. So sad that in those last moments he forgot about prop and flaps despite his experience.

[@nitehawk86]

I like to think these videos save lives. I am glad AOPA makes them available to the public, even non members.

[@briggsquantum]

Exactly. Four US gallons would have weighed about 25 pounds, Imperial gallons about 30. Passengers don't help with aircraft performance, fuel does. Those four gallons would have broken the chain of events that led to this crash.

[@MikeGranby]

Quite. I know it's heretical to some, but until you're looking at a marginal field or ridiculous density altitude or some underpowered, beat up old airplane, you're way better off a little overweight on take-off than you are running out of fuel. In this case, I doubt the Baron would even have noticed the extra 30 lbs or so.

[@aviatorel32]

@@MikeGranby That's exactly what I was thinking. Seen how with special permit they flew a plane with huge overweight (to cross Pacific) and beside lethargic claim performance there was no adverse effect. Baron would not even have felt the difference of those extra few gallons.

[@57Jimmy]

Excellent series and valuable information for both pilots and non-pilots. The narrator is one of the best ever! He would give Mike Rowe a serious run for the money! Clear, concise and empathetic. He is the best!

[@Straswa]

Great vid ASI. I really like the narrator, he does good work.

[@s0ulfire]

During my training, I maintained always maintained a fuel reserve of 1 hour cruise time at my destination. A rule easier to follow when not carrying payload, of course.

[@cn9936]

I’m still studying for my written PP test but have learned so much from all the case studies and trying videos I’ve seen. I am a safer student pilot by watching these videos. Thank you.

[@blake9908]

Same here!

[@davedebz]

“Pilots who have pushed fuel limits can attest to the sinking feeling as seconds grind by….” - yes! Happened to me once and I vowed to never let it happen again. I was fortunate, unlike this poor chap and his passengers. Let the inexperienced learn from these errors …

[@soldotnaman]

Ditto. Only once.

[@muazadam983]

guess i should be taking a ton of notes

[@TheFinerPoints]

These videos are so important to GA - Thank you!

[@AirSafetyInstitute]

Glad you like them!

[@otterspocket2826]

The real irony is that, had he taken the additional 4 gallons, he would still have been under MTOW - his calculation would've been based on 75lbs of fuel that he didn't have onboard.

[@Flying_Snakes]

Yep, he could have taken 10gallons...60lbs and still been under weight and alive. Too bad that he didn't take a minute to actually stick the tanks.

[@topspot4834]

Exactly! I'd love to know his reasoning. We've all flown with less than optimal fuel levels, but even the 54 gallons he thought he had was still cutting it extremely close. Second that first engine stalled he knew he was done. Must be an awful feeling, especially with passengers.

[@realtoast7036]

Excellent presentation. I've not flown in 20+ years, but I still remain interested in learning why planes crash. My 13k-hour instructor answered my question, Why to planes crash. His answer was even more direct than just, 'pilot error". Get-there-itus is what causes flaws in judgement. As it was here. The pilot simply did not have a plan that included not going.

[@gringoloco8576]

I wish you guys would make a lot more of these. We could use em.

[@blaquentgruppe6547]

Every week

[@darrellbrewer1926]

This guys voice is so soothing and relaxing

[@sergeysmirnov1062]

I can only imagine how it must have felt in those last few seconds, especially after going through with that roll, knowing you'd crash (presumably with 5 panicked passengers behind you) and still doing your best to at least soften the impact. And yes, failing to retract flaps and feather the engine was a mistake, a deadly one that cost 6 lives, but still, even then...

[@michaelmccarthy4615]

When the 1st engine quit you know those passengers had something to say.... it probably lead to even more confusion not taken into account.

[@AkPacerPilot]

@@michaelmccarthy4615 yeah I bet, a good briefing also helps with that, I personally think his ultimate mistake was not manually checking the fuel tanks and ensuring he was starting off with the fuel he assumed he had and not 16 gallons less then what he planned for. There’s certainly a lot of other things that could of changed the outcome, like knowing he was stretching fuel limits and choosing the circle approach from the East which would have put him on the ground sooner, to feathering the prop and cleaning the flaps, to changing the flight characteristics to begin with, less passengers / cargo more fuel reserve or planning a fuel stop along the way. You can’t foresee every danger but certainly there were many in this flight that even just one change could have changed the outcome.

[@Bartonovich52]

Andy Smitty. You can’t manually check the fuel unless you fill it up to 80 gallons. With the Baron and a lot of light twins.. virtually their entire wings are fuel tanks. You open the cap and it’s dry yet you still have 50 gallons of fuel on board. It seems like this guy likely took a lot of passengers all the time, so could never fill it to a known amount like 80 gallons without being hugely overweight. Later Barons solved this by having inboard fuel caps (which creates another problem if you accidentally open them when the tanks are full) and mechanical fuel gauges on the wing roots so you can visually see how much fuel there is when you do your walk around. But yeah.. you can only calculate based on assumed fuel for so long. Soon even the accumulated inaccuracies from rounding, temperature, leakage, venting, evaporation, and variances in the totalizer will make your fuel load very inaccurate. You need to zero it with a known quantity every so often.. preferably every three or four legs. This is also an important check to determine the health of your engines by the actual fuel burn you are achieving.

[@AkPacerPilot]

@@Bartonovich52 I suppose I assumed they all had the inboard fuel tank, as the only one I’ve been around had the inboard caps. Still, there were a bunch of mistakes there, anyone of them solved could have changed the outcome

[@uski]

@@Bartonovich52 I am not a pilot but please help me understand something. Why doesn't the FAA mandates a retrofit of mechanical fuel gauges in the wing roots on all of these air planes ? Would it be that costly to do ? Because evidently it would have saved people here, and it is super likely other airplanes are flying blind as to the exact amount of fuel onboard for the exact same reason

[@systemloc]

I absolutely love this video series. I'm an AOPA member, and I hope the pilots here are as well. I'm a new pilot, and I've learned so much about being safe over and above the routine PPL training. The videos are well made, and the narrator is outstanding. I'm sorry for those who died, and I hope these videos use their sacrifice to save the lives of others.

[@orvilleh.larson7581]

A bit of wisdom: "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. However, there are no old, bold pilots." "A man's gotta know his limitations!" --"Dirty Harry" Callahan

[@tristansulzberger4249]

Keep doing them, they are LIFE saving! Great job.

[@unggrabb]

Excellent narration. Thank you

[@dandersen464]

Best flight safety video production anywhere by far. Keep up the good work! I dedicate time for every video to keep all these reminders close at hand.

[@dwightcurtis5463]

Yes please! Make more of these Accident Case Study videos. Thank you.

[@haakenhagen-atwell2004]

As expected, exceptional educational video from Air Safety Institute.

[@bryand8605]

These videos save lives of pilots and passengers. Those numbers will never be recorded anywhere but they are still there. Keep up the great work!

[@carterrk]

Thank you for these videos. They are always informative

[@unlisted773]

Most certainly these videos make me a better pilot, and are a great reason to continue my AOPA membership.

[@peterellison2220]

That low-fuel feeling is real, I think we have all been there. So easy to think "it'll be enough" and at that point, leaving passengers behind isn't even an option in our minds. Well-made video that will stick in my mind for years to come

[@12345fowler]

Yep, low fuel is a snake surprise sometimes. What baffles me more is the non feathering of the dead engine, startle factor I presume.

[@rickochet6569]

These case studies are fantastic. Excellent professional video and the narrator has the perfect voice for this content.

[@CptnFuentes_FR]

Best ASI video to date, really.

[@Gus1966-c9o]

Air Safety Institute , finally another video ! I’m not a pilot but a fan of this narrator and this channel . So much can be gleaned from these videos .

[@ericg.18]

Who is the narrator for these videos?

[@bjornkeizers]

The three most useless things in aviation: sky above you, runway behind you and fuel left at your departure airport. If he was incorrect about his fuel load for several flights beforehand, this was literally an accident waiting to happen sooner or later. It's just unfortunate that he took five with him...

[@DavidDavid-jb1cy]

not necessarily. all it takes is one top off of the tanks to completely reset the calcs.

[@thefireman2854]

Even going by his miscalculations, he still flew when he should not have, not an accident.

[@michaelmackend4153]

These videos have done more for my disposition towards safe flying than any other single thing. I'm so glad they're back! I hope we see more!

[@puppiesarepower3682]

Never run on 1/4 or less. The fuel gauge is only a general guide, not a precision readout.

[@noesrp6595]

I fly with my dad in his Cessna Skylane and absolutely love it. He has been flying for 40+ years and is very experienced with all ratings current. These videos give me some additional peace of mind so that we learn, albeit sadly, from others mistakes.

[@copperheadh1052]

Skylane is a great airplane. I have one myself, it's my baby beast.

[@bpford]

you guys need to do more of these on a regular basis though. I really enjoy these Accident Case Study videos

[@Suburp212]

Good visuals and good explanations

[@michaellynch9553]

Excellent content and narration 👍

[@kentd4762]

These videos are so helpful, but are sure gut-wrenching. I can't imagine the feelings of "oh crap", worry and eventual doom in the pilot leading up to the wreck. RIP all.

[@bluelinechex]

Excellent video, very helpful.

[@joecraven2034]

Every one of these case studies have been superb and highly educational. Thanks.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Good lesson for drivers as well. Always keep your fuel tank filled. When then tank reaches the empty point and the little yellow low fuel light is illuminated it distracts you from driving as you constantly look at the gas gauge and you worry if you're going to run out before the next exit that has a gas station...in some places they are far and in between.

[@flashoflight8160]

I've stretched it 20 times when the yellow light comes on, usually because I want cheaper gas. 19 out of 20 times I made it. One time I had to pull over and wait for AAA to give me 3 gallons of fuel. I wouldn't roll the dice like that on a plane.

[@orvilleh.larson7581]

If you're driving and a problem develops, you pull over to the curb and get out. If you're flying and something goes haywire at 10,000 feet . . . well, it'll be an interesting experience for all concerned. . . .

[@chuckschillingvideos]

@@orvilleh.larson7581 Yep. The consequences of running out of fuel on the highway and running out at altitude are....quite significant.

[@elpowderman]

Excellent, as always. By far the best publication AOPA produces!

[@supafly322]

Love these videos! please keep them coming!

[@apackwestbound5946]

Here is another "like" and "comment" for the KZbin analogue. It has been said thousands of times. You folks at the Air Safety institute put out some of the best and most valuable training information available anywhere. Thank you very much. A similar accident, but on a bigger scale, was LaMia flight 2933 an Avro RJ85 carrying Brazil's Chapencoense Soccer team into Medellin which ran out of fuel crashing short of the runway killing 71 out of 77 of the occupants. In both cases the flight planning was "strained", in that the airplane wasn't capable of doing what it was being asked to do in terms of distance, load, realistic weather or basic contingencies. When all the gas has been burned, the engines go silent and the airplane drops out of the sky. That terrible silent plunge after the engine9s) flame out comes at the conclusion of a series of decisions made hours earlier and must have been accompanied by horrible regret.

[@rogerbee697]

There’s a KZbinr that’s does animated plane crash videos. I think he did one on that event.

[@PWeilerMr]

An old (but NOT bold) pilot once told me the only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire. Cheers

[@adam1885282]

Or when it puts you overweight, in which case gotta go back to the drawing board

[@v.dembsey3355]

@@adam1885282 Ridiculous. A plane with all fluids, fuel and crew is never overweight. Everything you add to it puts you overweight. Let's remove some of the oil, we really don't need ALL of it. Besides it's putting me overweight. That way I don't have to leave out what really matters to the flight like passengers/luggage.

[@jasonrogers5382]

I can’t get enough of these videos

[@Clearanceman2]

I'm amazed at how casually some people gamble with their lives and other peoples' lives. It's one thing to do this stuff in a car, well, you run out of gas, you pull over and call the triple A. But in a plane, kind of ridiculous to take the chance.

[@orvilleh.larson7581]

Precisely the point, sir. If you're driving and a problem develops, you pull over to the curb and get out. If you're flying and something goes haywire at 10,000 feet . . . well, it'll be an interesting experience for all concerned. . . .

[@RoryOnAir]

Another brilliantly produced, informative video. So sad that people lose their life but if the lessons learned can help save others there is at least some good in the tragedy.

[@generalrendar7290]

Any time you are at max weight or near max weight you have to be precise on your performance calculations. Being surprised by his loss of fuel and the stress of trying to keep his passengers calm caused an experienced pilot to completely fail something he could probably rattle off in seconds under no pressure.

[@gerardpully762]

Tend to agree with your assessment of stress upon his behaviour.. But, I can´t see an experienced pilot, apparently, not informing ATC of low fuel and the need to shorten the approach sequence in light of the urgent need to land and most importantly, his responsibility for the safety of the passengers. Without attempting to judge the pilot, not accepting a mistake on the fuel/mtow decision compounds the possible solutions for a safe landing. When limiting oneself in such a flight from the planning stage is a show of irresponsible overconfidence. It is happening too many times.

[@TheNixie1972]

@@gerardpully762 As I understood the report the pilot was not aware of the critical fuel situation until the engines stopped running. At that moment the approach was just a straight line to the runway. So no re-routing could have saved him at that moment.

[@sqlpilot9711]

@@TheNixie1972 There's a big difference between saving the airplane and saving the lives on board. Keeping the speed up, feathering the prop and raising flaps for a controlled off-airport crash landing would have wrecked the plane but all could have survived.

[@casperdecker4288]

More!!! We want more!! Give use more!!!! Amazing videos, love the narrator. I wish more of these kinds of videos had a narrator.

[@sphiliben]

Nice presentation

[@martinkirugi254]

Aopa videos are so educating. Keep it up guys, good job

[@powwowken2760]

I can't believe a machine of any kind was built without some reliable way to check fuel, that just blows me away

[@randomschmo5778]

Ditto

[@PapaDoubleWhiskey]

+1 for more of these videos. Very well done. This makes my AOPA subscription worthwhile.

[@billigerfusel]

Finally another study

[@scubasteve7303]

Not a pilot, but I love aviation. The lessons learned in videos apply to those of us who can’t fly. Disaster is almost always the result of a series of missteps which alone, may not have lead to ruin, but collectively are insurmountable. I boat on the open ocean and have applied these lessons to my time on the water. A couple times I’ve had incidents and looking back, it was always a couple things working in concert to create trouble. Great videos, keep them coming!

[@randomschmo5778]

I hear pilots refer to the series of missteps as ‘the holes in the cheese lining up’.

[@fdzaviation]

I said it and I say it again: Other than fuel leaks or fuel line blockages, Engine failures due to fuel exhaustion are the dumbest way to get yourself in trouble in an airplane - even like in cases like these where the pilot was mislead. Idk, at least my own personal minimums are: Wheels on the ground with 45 minutes left of fuel at the latest. No exceptions.

[@uski]

The problem here was the inaccuracy of the instrumentation. Your personal minimums do not matter if the instrumentation is lying to you, telling you they are met when they are not. Even if he added these 4 extra gallons of fuel, the accident might have happened in a later flight anyway since measuring errors were adding up flight after flight.

[@fdzaviation]

@@uski I disagree. If I'm flying IFR, Max gross in a twin, with limited fuel reserves - which I regularly did in the 414A - weather HAD to be VMC in destination on a direct flight. I don't care if the instrument is lying or not, I know that I'm pushing the envelope of performance of the airplane in more ways than one and adding the IMC part is just asking for trouble.

[@uski]

@@fdzaviation Thanks, that's a good perspective. I am working toward getting my PPL, so I am still learning.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

I think it all stemmed from the initial overload. I think that was the motivating factor behind cutting fuel down to minimum allowable levels. Just because an aircraft has 6 seats (or whatever) doesn't mean you can strap in 6 and their bags and go as far as you want. The Baron is not a 737.

[@iwaswrongabouteveryhthing]

shutting down the incorrect engine is another beauty

[@davecarsley8773]

Glad to see this series back. It and the "real pilot stories" thing is why I'm subscribed

[@MaloPiloto]

Truly a tragedy wherein the pilot did so many things wrong. When I used to fly, we used to say “only believe the fuel gauges whey they read empty”....

[@etet67890]

These videos are amazing. I wish there were more. Thank you for making them!

[@nicowilson8032]

Great work, I love these videos. Also looks great with the new Microsoft flight simulator 2020

[@Jdalio5]

Every GA pilot should binge watch these videos and every simular available video.

[@anthonyalles1833]

I'm not a pilot and after watching a bunch of these (great) videos, I'm never going to be a passenger on a small plane either! The number of things that can go so easily wrong on these kinds of planes is absolutely terrifying.

[@orvilleh.larson7581]

I associate myself with your comment. I have an academic interest in aviation, but I've never wanted to get a pilot's license. If anything, the more I read about general aviation crashes dissuaded me! I've never been in a small plane--nor do I intend to.

[@isomeme]

I think you're drawing the wrong lesson from videos like these. Nobody makes videos doing meticulous minute-by-minute analyses of the hundreds of thousands of successful civil aviation flights that happen for every one that runs into trouble. If you drive, you're already accepting a risk level similar to that of routine civil aviation. Videos like this help make a safe form of transportation even safer.

[@anthonyalles1833]

@@isomeme Is general aviation really the same as "routine civil aviation"? Never seen a video about passenger jets called "178 Seconds to Live". But then again, there's Air France 447... Guess when it's your time, it's your time.

[@dlvox5222]

Eerie narration and music as always. Foreshadowing at its finest. Then often times a image near the end of a dense forest at dusk, the unsurvivable presumed “landing” area.

[@brianpriest2930]

Mechanical errors will always occur (noticed or not). That is why the strictest of integrity is required while operating. At least if nothing else, when problems add up you the PIC are giving yourself the absolute best chances. The often missed hitch is this: operating integrity starts 24-48 hours before a flight (rest, food, alcohol, stress, etc). Stay safe everyone

[@copperheadh1052]

Oh, how much alcohol should we intake to combat the stress?

[@Danielsanchez-ub9uy]

This how every air crash investigation video should be like. A simulation of what happened and someone explaining it. Its so much better than may day or air crash investigation where the acting is absolutely horrendous

[@furbs9999]

I wonder how many lives have been saved by these very important videos?

[@jumpinjojo]

Maybe 2 or 3.

[@wormhole331]

9