What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) During cross-country flight, engine quit. Switched tanks, restarted engine, engine quit again. Unable to restart engine. Made emergency landing on gravel bar. Investigation into this matter, revealed that the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot was relying on a pilot weather briefing obtained from a flight service station which detailed conditions of a tail wind along his route of flight. The pilot entered an unforecast headwind and was relying on the fuel gauges for fuel management. Investigation revealed that the fuel gauges were sticking and not providing accurate information to the pilot.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) DURING CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT, ENGINE QUIT. SWITCHED TANKS, RESTARTED ENGINE, ENGINE QUIT AGAIN. UNABLE TO RESTART ENGINE. MADE EMERGENCY LANDING ON GRAVEL BAR. INVESTIGATION INTO THIS MATTER, REVEALED THAT THE ENGINE FAILED DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. THE PILOT WAS RELYING ON A PILOT WEATHER BRIEFING OBTAINED FROM A FLIGHT SERVICE STATION WHICH DETAILED CONDITIONS OF A TAIL WIND ALONG HIS ROUTE OF FLIGHT. THE PILOT ENTERED AN UNFORECAST HEADWIND AND WAS RELYING ON THE FUEL GAUGES FOR FUEL MANAGEMENT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE FUEL GAUGES WERE STICKING AND NOT PROVIDING ACCURATE INFORMATION TO THE PILOT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.