20120410007299I

On April 10, 2012, at approximately 2040 UTC (1540 CDT), the airman, holder of a private pilot certificate, was involved in an aircraft incident that resulted in an off-airport landing north of Alta Vista, Kansas. The aircraft involved in this incident is a Cessna CE-172-R, owned and operated by a title 14 code of federal regulations (CFR) part 141 pilot school. The flight was conducted in accordance with 14 CFR part 61. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the incident; winds aloft the aircraft's cruising altitude of 4,500 feet mean sea level (MSL) were approximately 320 degrees magnetic at 25 knots. Prior to this incident, the airman was conducting a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight from the salina municipal airport (ksln) to jefferson city, Missouri (kjef), with a stop in abilene, Kansas. The cross-country flight is a pre-requisite for the issuance of a commercial pilot certificate. During the pre-flight planning portion of this cross-country flight, the airman determined the fuel quantity on-board the aircraft, planned the cross-country flight, and subsequently departed upon receipt of concurrence from the pilot school. While en-route to kjef, the airman stated that the right low fuel annunciator light illuminated in the aircraft, indicating that the fuel in that tank was below five (5) gallons remaining. The airman, unsure as to how to resolve this issue, elected to seek additional guidance from the flight instructor via a text message. When a response was not received, the airman switched to the left fuel tank and continued on to the destination; airman stated that a diversion to an alternate airport was never considered. Upon arrival, 12 gallons of fuel, 6 gallons per side, were added to the aircraft. The airman was advised to buy 10 gallons of fuel as this should be sufficient; however, 12 gallons were purchased. Approximately 30-40 miles west of kjef, the airman stated that the right low fuel annunciator, once again, became illuminated. A second attempt was made to contact the flight instructor via text message; however, no response was received. The airman subsequently selected the left fuel tank and continued on towards the destination. Once again, the airman stated that a diversion to another airport was not considered. In the vicinity of Alta Vista, Kansas, the airman stated that the engine failed; the airman's radio transmission to the air traffic control facility providing flight following indicated that the aircraft had run out of fuel. The air traffic control facility attempted to direct the aircraft to the nearest airport; however, the airman indicated that the aircraft would not reach that location. The engine failure checklist was initiated by the airman; however was not completed. According to the airman, the mixture was increased to full rich and the fuel selector was changed from the, "left," tank to the, "both," position. Upon establishing the aircraft's best glide speed, the airman circled a terraced wheat field, in which an emergency landing was accomplished. The aircraft did not sustain any damage during the off-airport emergency landing; the pilot, the sole occupant on-board was uninjured. During the post-incident inspection, approximately 7-8 gallons of aviation gasoline was recovered; all fuel-related aircraft systems were inspected and fully functional. Fuel quantity indicators showed the left tank at 0 gallons; aircraft was operating on the left fuel tank exclusively prior to the engine failure. The aircraft was inspected by the director of maintenance, returned to service, and flown back to its base of operations. Subsequent review of the airman's cross-country navigation logs revealed that minimum fuel requirements for this flight, including VFR fuel reserves, were not properly calculated. Navigation logs and fuel calculations indicate that the aircraft departed on the return flight with only 3 gallons of fuel remaining.