A C-172 pilot deadsticked to a safe landing at a closer airport when the engine failed due to fuel s...

Attributes
ACN	1078070
Time
Date	201304
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60 Flight Crew Total 120 Flight Crew Type 120
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

The engine began running roughly as I descended toward pattern altitude. I called and reported the engine trouble and was given a vector to [a nearby airport] after I advised I would not be able to make it to [the airport]. The engine eventually died and I landed safely. Upon inspection it appeared the right tank was empty and the left had only two gallons remaining. ATC's command [vector] to turn right might have rendered that fuel unable to gravity feed (but I'm no mechanic). Although I had leaned the mixture often and--what I believed--was correctly; it appears the aircraft was using 11 gph instead of the planned 8. The only thing I can think of is maybe the power setting was too high (although I believed it was within the eight gph range and was absolutely in the green arc). We should have easily landed at our fuel stop with more than 45 minutes of fuel remaining.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C-172 pilot deadsticked to a safe landing at a closer airport when the engine failed due to fuel starvation as he was descending toward his destination.

Narrative: The engine began running roughly as I descended toward pattern altitude. I called and reported the engine trouble and was given a vector to [a nearby airport] after I advised I would not be able to make it to [the airport]. The engine eventually died and I landed safely. Upon inspection it appeared the right tank was empty and the left had only two gallons remaining. ATC's command [vector] to turn right might have rendered that fuel unable to gravity feed (but I'm no mechanic). Although I had leaned the mixture often and--what I believed--was correctly; it appears the aircraft was using 11 GPH instead of the planned 8. The only thing I can think of is maybe the power setting was too high (although I believed it was within the eight GPH range and was absolutely in the green arc). We should have easily landed at our fuel stop with more than 45 minutes of fuel remaining.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.