Flight Crew Student
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 41; Flight Crew Total 56; Flight Crew Type 56
Confusion; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft; Human Factors
After a company policy signoff; I entered the plane after a pre-flight inspection. The plane was airworthy to fly; although I can't remember the fuel level of the plane. At the run-up area I did not experience any problems with the airplane; the engine instruments were all in the green arcs and the RPM drop of the carb heater and magneto checks were within limits. I called Tower; got a takeoff clearance and took off with the fuel selector on the left tank.Later while I was at an altitude of 6;500 FT to the right tank and kept on heading to my first stop where I performed one full-stop/taxiback and then continued my flight during which I swapped to the left tank after the departure.I repeated the landing; taxi back operations twice more at my next stop and then continued the flight performing some training exercises along the way.Right after I received the weather for my final destination I experienced an engine failure.I heard the engine losing power. Adrenaline took control; I went for the best glide speed of the aircraft (76 knots) and trimmed the airplane for that speed. [I] then looked for a place to land. I noticed a road with cars on it; but I decided that I did not want to put the life of other people in danger. Straight after that I noticed some green fields under my right wing. I chose those as a spot to land. I went through the emergency restart procedure; checked the magnetos; put the fuel pump on; mixture full rich; throttle at full power. I was already getting closer to the ground; so I made a 'mayday' call on the southeast practice area frequency. Right after the call I finished the emergency procedure by switching tanks. I heard the magnetos fire and the plane trying to recover power; but without success. I pitched the aircraft slightly downwards; to get more airflow into the propeller and achieved a restart. I gained altitude again and made a call on the southeast frequency. Following the restart; there was no distress situation anymore. I looked on the gauges to see what they were indicating; and the [left] fuel quantity gauge dropped from 10 to zero during the restart procedure. At that point I realized I had suffered fuel starvation because I had run the left tank dry. I proceeded according to the standard company arrival procedure. I contacted the Tower who were already aware of the situation and asked me if I wanted to have priority and what my endurance was. I replied with Negative and the amount of 20 gallons instead of time. After I landed the Senior Flight Instructor and my instructor were there to help me get out of the plane. I really learned from this experience; and know that I won't freeze during an emergency. There was no structural damage on the plane.
A student pilot aboard a PA-28 suffered engine failure when he ran the left tank dry. A restart after switching back to the right tank was successful and the flight was concluded uneventfully.