Atx departed without sufficient fuel to reach destination.

Attributes
ACN	145701
Time
Date	199003
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : teb
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air taxi
Make Model Name	Small Transport, Low Wing, 2 Recip Eng
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute airway : zbw
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air taxi
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 3500 flight time type : 300
ASRS Report	145701
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air taxi
Function	other personnel
Qualification	other
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Night freight operation. First night doing this particular run. Before leaving on first leg of flight, asked dispatcher what usual amount of fuel was. Plan was to have enough fuel for the night without refueling. Last leg at dawn uca-teb. Before takeoff cursory glance at fuel gauges seemed to show sufficient fuel. About halfway back it became obvious insufficient fuel to reach teb. Now wide awake. Advised center 'had a fuel problem and needed to divert to swf.' upon transfer to approach, advised 'minimum fuel'. Landed with about 15 min remaining. Turns out dispatcher didn't really know. Pilot previously doing run told me on a couple of occasions also landed with 'less fuel than he should have'. Company had only been doing this run for a couple of weeks.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ATX DEPARTED WITHOUT SUFFICIENT FUEL TO REACH DESTINATION.

Narrative: NIGHT FREIGHT OPERATION. FIRST NIGHT DOING THIS PARTICULAR RUN. BEFORE LEAVING ON FIRST LEG OF FLT, ASKED DISPATCHER WHAT USUAL AMOUNT OF FUEL WAS. PLAN WAS TO HAVE ENOUGH FUEL FOR THE NIGHT WITHOUT REFUELING. LAST LEG AT DAWN UCA-TEB. BEFORE TKOF CURSORY GLANCE AT FUEL GAUGES SEEMED TO SHOW SUFFICIENT FUEL. ABOUT HALFWAY BACK IT BECAME OBVIOUS INSUFFICIENT FUEL TO REACH TEB. NOW WIDE AWAKE. ADVISED CENTER 'HAD A FUEL PROBLEM AND NEEDED TO DIVERT TO SWF.' UPON TRANSFER TO APCH, ADVISED 'MINIMUM FUEL'. LANDED WITH ABOUT 15 MIN REMAINING. TURNS OUT DISPATCHER DIDN'T REALLY KNOW. PLT PREVIOUSLY DOING RUN TOLD ME ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS ALSO LANDED WITH 'LESS FUEL THAN HE SHOULD HAVE'. COMPANY HAD ONLY BEEN DOING THIS RUN FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.