Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 214; Flight Crew Total 710; Flight Crew Type 512
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft; Human Factors
[During preflight] I visually checked both tanks and there was visually plenty of fuel onboard for the small amount of time required for the remainder of [my planned flight]. I did my walk around and switched my master on to check lights; flaps; and double check my fuel gauges. The fuel gauges indicated that my right wing was full and my left was just below full. Approximately 3/4 full. I took off; [flew for a while]; and turning towards the airport I had a loss of power. I immediately checked my fuel gauges which showed about 12-14 gallons onboard. Then checked my fuel selector which was on both and I checked my gauges (all in the green) and my throttle which was full in. I fluctuated the throttle to see if I could get any response and the RPMS just remained at idle. I pitched for best glide and squawked 7700 before notifying approach. They immediately put me on with Tower and cleared all runways for me. Once I got close enough to the runway where I knew I would make it I threw in full flaps and put the plane safely on the runway. Once I was rolling out I only had about 1;000 RPM worth of power which enabled me to slowly taxi off the runway to the ramp. While parking the marshaller signaled for me to turn right to line up straight at parking; but I was unable to as I didn't have enough power to make the turn. I shut down. Once on the ground checking over everything my gauges now read 0 gallons on the left and 6-7 on the right yet once we topped it off I still had 4.5 gallons remaining onboard which was more than enough to get me safely back to the FBO. After talking with the Maintenance guy he had said he encountered something similar and that when the levels get low the accuracy drops considerably on the gauges and that there is some sort of screen that may possibly shift a bit and restrict flow at that point. I definitely learned that no matter what I will top off and set a specific time frame for [my planned flight]. Never rely on fuel gauges especially with un-topped tanks.
C172 pilot reported landing safely after experiencing a power loss associated with fuel exhaustion.