Narrative:

In this case, I am reporting an off airport landing after I ran out of fuel, in IMC, after missing the approach at my intended airport, and the air traffic controller failed to give me priority for landing in spite of my repeated declarations of 'minimum fuel.' there were no injuries and minimum damage to the aircraft. Before departure, I believed I had adequate fuel for my 45 min reserve, but now believe I either had an unusually high burn rate or I was about 4 gals short of my required reserve. On dec/tue/95, I departed 2q3 at approximately XA50 am, with 1 passenger. I had obtained a WX briefing by telephone (rancho murietta) and had prefiled an IFR plan to ove, normally a 21-22 min flight. The WX was foggy, ceiling at yolo county about 1500 ft overcast, tops of the first layer about 3000 ft with multiple layers above. AWOS at oroville was reporting 700 ft overcast with a 59 degree/58 degree temperature dewpoint spread. I estimated about 28 gals usable fuel on board. The flight normally used between 7.5-8 gals of fuel. I had made the flight many times before on a regular basis. After departing VFR, I attempted to pick up my IFR from travis approach, but they had me standby until I was in sacramento TRACON airspace. I then called sacramento approach (124.50) and picked up my IFR clearance -- cleared to ove via marysville direct, climb and maintain 4000 ft. After switching to 125.40 frequency, we were cleared for the VOR-a approach to ove. I flew the approach to the MDA -- 720 ft - - but could not see the airport. The AWOS was then reporting 500 ft overcast. We flew the map, and contacted sacramento approach again -- 125.40 -- just over oroville. I told the controller I wanted to go to paradise to see if it was clear enough to land. The controller said he could not clear me to paradise, since he was using a back-up radar and could not pick me up on radar yet. He cleared me for the published map to hazed intersection to hold. I then asked for clearance direct to controller in charge if I could not go direct to paradise, since I was low on fuel. The controller said since he could not yet see me on radar, he could not do so, and that I would haveto proceed on the missed to hazed. I then said I would climb to 4000 ft so he could pick me up more quickly, which the controller acknowledged. I then proceeded on the missed toward hazed while climbing. Just as I reached about 3900 ft, the controller reported radar contact, and gave me a clearance to proceed direct to controller in charge at 4000 ft. I then did a 180 degree turn toward chico. Just about over oroville, the controller handed me off to ZOA (132.20). When I reported to oakland, on my initial call, I reported 'minimum fuel.' the controller acknowledged, and gave me a vector. After several mins on this vector, I heard the controller turn another aircraft onto the ILS approach runway 13L at chico. Since I was becoming increasingly concerned about my fuel state (one tank was showing a warning light of 'low fuel'), I again called oakland and asked whether the controller had received my earlier declaration of 'minimum fuel.' the new controller said that she had, and gave me a vector of about 340 degrees, further west, and somewhat away from the chico airport. After several mins more, by this time I was about 12 mi northwest of chico airport, I heard the controller turn a second aircraft onto the ILS approach to chico. I again called the controller and said I was very concerned about my fuel state, that I had 'minimum fuel' and asked when I was to be turned onto the approach. She said that I could expect a turn in about 2 mins. (In retrospect, I should have then immediately declared an emergency and turned directly toward the airport. I was then and had been since oroville in IMC, fog and clouds with light rain.) just about when I reached the 16.5 mi point northwest of chico, the controller gave me a turn toward the approach path and a descent to 2500 ft. After a short time, she gave me a further vector to intercept and cleared me for the approach. I intercepted and after GS intercept, began my descent. Passing about 1800 ft or so, and about 8 mi from the airport (inside the OM), the controller said, radar terminated, change to chico tower. I acknowledged the call, and just as I switched frequencys, the engine sputtered and quit. I immediatelyswitched tanks (as I had been doing for the past 20 mins), and the engine caught briefly. I reported to chico tower that the engine had quit momentarily, and I may not make it to the airport. I then tried the boost pumps while I established a glide speed of 85 KTS. The engine caught again briefly but did not run regularly. After a few seconds, it quit completely. I called the tower and told them I had lost the engine because I had run out of fuel, and would not make the airport. I was still in the clouds at this point. The tower asked me how many on board ('two'), my location, and how much fuel ('none, of course, that's the whole problem!!'). At 85 KTS I was descending at about 700 FPM or so. I broke out of the clouds at about 1400 ft, and could see farmers' fields in front, a 2-LANE highway (highway 99), and a country road (meridian road) generally running north/south. Since the wind was from about 130 degrees at about 10-13 KTS, I wanted to land toward the southeast, if possible. Chico airport was still not in sight, and was reporting 800 ft overcast in fog, with about 2 mi visibility, as I recall. I elected to land in a farmer's field near a house, rather than take a chance on one of the roads. Although I knew the chance of damage to the aircraft was more certain by landing in the field, the chance of serious personal injuries would be much less. We set down at a full stall in the field. It turned out to be unleveled, with rolling undulations, and several deep crevices. Fortunately we hit one rolling hill, bounced slightly, and settled down in the soft ground to a quick stop after about 300-400 ft. Neither my passenger nor I was jolted significantly, and sustained no injuries. The propeller struck the soft ground while windmilling, and sustained a slight bend in 1 blade -- almost imperceptible. One of the gear door covers was slightly bent. Otherwise, there was no obvious damage to the aircraft. We walked to the farmer's house (who had observed our landing from his window) and called chico tower and the local FSDO to report the landing. 2 days later, I flew the aircraft out of the field to chico airport with a ferry permit. Although I fully realize that whenever a pilot runs out of fuel, it is pilot error, in this case, I feel that had I been given priority over the other 2 aircraft which landed ahead of me at chico airport, I would not have had this off airport landing. Naturally I should have refueled before departing to insure that I had enough fuel. I thought I had this amount of fuel -- 28 gals should have been enough. Since I was in the air for 56 mins before fuel exhaustion, that would normally require only about 24 gals of fuel -- 4 gals for warm-up and taxi and 20 gals for the 56 mins of flight. I must either have burned fuel at a higher rate, or had less than 28 gals to start. Had the controller given me priority over all other aircraft (except others with an emergency or minimum fuel), I could have completed the approach to chico easily with no fuel problems. Next time, I will declare an emergency whenever I feel that fuel will be a possible problem, rather than simply declaring 'minimum fuel' and trusting the controller to give me priority. I did not declare an emergency, since I did not consider it a real emergency, but only felt I needed priority over other aircraft for immediate landing because of the fuel shortage. I thought that the declaration of 'minimum fuel' would have given me this priority. Apparently either I have misunderstood the significance of this phrase, 'minimum fuel,' or the controller did not handle me as I felt was required under this circumstance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PLT OF AN SMA SEL MADE AN OFF ARPT FORCED LNDG AFTER THE ENG QUIT DUE TO RUNNING OUT OF FUEL DURING AN IFR IN IMC ILS APCH.

Narrative: IN THIS CASE, I AM RPTING AN OFF ARPT LNDG AFTER I RAN OUT OF FUEL, IN IMC, AFTER MISSING THE APCH AT MY INTENDED ARPT, AND THE AIR TFC CTLR FAILED TO GIVE ME PRIORITY FOR LNDG IN SPITE OF MY REPEATED DECLARATIONS OF 'MINIMUM FUEL.' THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND MINIMUM DAMAGE TO THE ACFT. BEFORE DEP, I BELIEVED I HAD ADEQUATE FUEL FOR MY 45 MIN RESERVE, BUT NOW BELIEVE I EITHER HAD AN UNUSUALLY HIGH BURN RATE OR I WAS ABOUT 4 GALS SHORT OF MY REQUIRED RESERVE. ON DEC/TUE/95, I DEPARTED 2Q3 AT APPROX XA50 AM, WITH 1 PAX. I HAD OBTAINED A WX BRIEFING BY TELEPHONE (RANCHO MURIETTA) AND HAD PREFILED AN IFR PLAN TO OVE, NORMALLY A 21-22 MIN FLT. THE WX WAS FOGGY, CEILING AT YOLO COUNTY ABOUT 1500 FT OVCST, TOPS OF THE FIRST LAYER ABOUT 3000 FT WITH MULTIPLE LAYERS ABOVE. AWOS AT OROVILLE WAS RPTING 700 FT OVCST WITH A 59 DEG/58 DEG TEMP DEWPOINT SPREAD. I ESTIMATED ABOUT 28 GALS USABLE FUEL ON BOARD. THE FLT NORMALLY USED BTWN 7.5-8 GALS OF FUEL. I HAD MADE THE FLT MANY TIMES BEFORE ON A REGULAR BASIS. AFTER DEPARTING VFR, I ATTEMPTED TO PICK UP MY IFR FROM TRAVIS APCH, BUT THEY HAD ME STANDBY UNTIL I WAS IN SACRAMENTO TRACON AIRSPACE. I THEN CALLED SACRAMENTO APCH (124.50) AND PICKED UP MY IFR CLRNC -- CLRED TO OVE VIA MARYSVILLE DIRECT, CLB AND MAINTAIN 4000 FT. AFTER SWITCHING TO 125.40 FREQ, WE WERE CLRED FOR THE VOR-A APCH TO OVE. I FLEW THE APCH TO THE MDA -- 720 FT - - BUT COULD NOT SEE THE ARPT. THE AWOS WAS THEN RPTING 500 FT OVCST. WE FLEW THE MAP, AND CONTACTED SACRAMENTO APCH AGAIN -- 125.40 -- JUST OVER OROVILLE. I TOLD THE CTLR I WANTED TO GO TO PARADISE TO SEE IF IT WAS CLR ENOUGH TO LAND. THE CTLR SAID HE COULD NOT CLR ME TO PARADISE, SINCE HE WAS USING A BACK-UP RADAR AND COULD NOT PICK ME UP ON RADAR YET. HE CLRED ME FOR THE PUBLISHED MAP TO HAZED INTXN TO HOLD. I THEN ASKED FOR CLRNC DIRECT TO CIC IF I COULD NOT GO DIRECT TO PARADISE, SINCE I WAS LOW ON FUEL. THE CTLR SAID SINCE HE COULD NOT YET SEE ME ON RADAR, HE COULD NOT DO SO, AND THAT I WOULD HAVETO PROCEED ON THE MISSED TO HAZED. I THEN SAID I WOULD CLB TO 4000 FT SO HE COULD PICK ME UP MORE QUICKLY, WHICH THE CTLR ACKNOWLEDGED. I THEN PROCEEDED ON THE MISSED TOWARD HAZED WHILE CLBING. JUST AS I REACHED ABOUT 3900 FT, THE CTLR RPTED RADAR CONTACT, AND GAVE ME A CLRNC TO PROCEED DIRECT TO CIC AT 4000 FT. I THEN DID A 180 DEG TURN TOWARD CHICO. JUST ABOUT OVER OROVILLE, THE CTLR HANDED ME OFF TO ZOA (132.20). WHEN I RPTED TO OAKLAND, ON MY INITIAL CALL, I RPTED 'MINIMUM FUEL.' THE CTLR ACKNOWLEDGED, AND GAVE ME A VECTOR. AFTER SEVERAL MINS ON THIS VECTOR, I HEARD THE CTLR TURN ANOTHER ACFT ONTO THE ILS APCH RWY 13L AT CHICO. SINCE I WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CONCERNED ABOUT MY FUEL STATE (ONE TANK WAS SHOWING A WARNING LIGHT OF 'LOW FUEL'), I AGAIN CALLED OAKLAND AND ASKED WHETHER THE CTLR HAD RECEIVED MY EARLIER DECLARATION OF 'MINIMUM FUEL.' THE NEW CTLR SAID THAT SHE HAD, AND GAVE ME A VECTOR OF ABOUT 340 DEGS, FURTHER W, AND SOMEWHAT AWAY FROM THE CHICO ARPT. AFTER SEVERAL MINS MORE, BY THIS TIME I WAS ABOUT 12 MI NW OF CHICO ARPT, I HEARD THE CTLR TURN A SECOND ACFT ONTO THE ILS APCH TO CHICO. I AGAIN CALLED THE CTLR AND SAID I WAS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT MY FUEL STATE, THAT I HAD 'MINIMUM FUEL' AND ASKED WHEN I WAS TO BE TURNED ONTO THE APCH. SHE SAID THAT I COULD EXPECT A TURN IN ABOUT 2 MINS. (IN RETROSPECT, I SHOULD HAVE THEN IMMEDIATELY DECLARED AN EMER AND TURNED DIRECTLY TOWARD THE ARPT. I WAS THEN AND HAD BEEN SINCE OROVILLE IN IMC, FOG AND CLOUDS WITH LIGHT RAIN.) JUST ABOUT WHEN I REACHED THE 16.5 MI POINT NW OF CHICO, THE CTLR GAVE ME A TURN TOWARD THE APCH PATH AND A DSCNT TO 2500 FT. AFTER A SHORT TIME, SHE GAVE ME A FURTHER VECTOR TO INTERCEPT AND CLRED ME FOR THE APCH. I INTERCEPTED AND AFTER GS INTERCEPT, BEGAN MY DSCNT. PASSING ABOUT 1800 FT OR SO, AND ABOUT 8 MI FROM THE ARPT (INSIDE THE OM), THE CTLR SAID, RADAR TERMINATED, CHANGE TO CHICO TWR. I ACKNOWLEDGED THE CALL, AND JUST AS I SWITCHED FREQS, THE ENG SPUTTERED AND QUIT. I IMMEDIATELYSWITCHED TANKS (AS I HAD BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST 20 MINS), AND THE ENG CAUGHT BRIEFLY. I RPTED TO CHICO TWR THAT THE ENG HAD QUIT MOMENTARILY, AND I MAY NOT MAKE IT TO THE ARPT. I THEN TRIED THE BOOST PUMPS WHILE I ESTABLISHED A GLIDE SPD OF 85 KTS. THE ENG CAUGHT AGAIN BRIEFLY BUT DID NOT RUN REGULARLY. AFTER A FEW SECONDS, IT QUIT COMPLETELY. I CALLED THE TWR AND TOLD THEM I HAD LOST THE ENG BECAUSE I HAD RUN OUT OF FUEL, AND WOULD NOT MAKE THE ARPT. I WAS STILL IN THE CLOUDS AT THIS POINT. THE TWR ASKED ME HOW MANY ON BOARD ('TWO'), MY LOCATION, AND HOW MUCH FUEL ('NONE, OF COURSE, THAT'S THE WHOLE PROB!!'). AT 85 KTS I WAS DSNDING AT ABOUT 700 FPM OR SO. I BROKE OUT OF THE CLOUDS AT ABOUT 1400 FT, AND COULD SEE FARMERS' FIELDS IN FRONT, A 2-LANE HWY (HWY 99), AND A COUNTRY ROAD (MERIDIAN ROAD) GENERALLY RUNNING N/S. SINCE THE WIND WAS FROM ABOUT 130 DEGS AT ABOUT 10-13 KTS, I WANTED TO LAND TOWARD THE SE, IF POSSIBLE. CHICO ARPT WAS STILL NOT IN SIGHT, AND WAS RPTING 800 FT OVCST IN FOG, WITH ABOUT 2 MI VISIBILITY, AS I RECALL. I ELECTED TO LAND IN A FARMER'S FIELD NEAR A HOUSE, RATHER THAN TAKE A CHANCE ON ONE OF THE ROADS. ALTHOUGH I KNEW THE CHANCE OF DAMAGE TO THE ACFT WAS MORE CERTAIN BY LNDG IN THE FIELD, THE CHANCE OF SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURIES WOULD BE MUCH LESS. WE SET DOWN AT A FULL STALL IN THE FIELD. IT TURNED OUT TO BE UNLEVELED, WITH ROLLING UNDULATIONS, AND SEVERAL DEEP CREVICES. FORTUNATELY WE HIT ONE ROLLING HILL, BOUNCED SLIGHTLY, AND SETTLED DOWN IN THE SOFT GND TO A QUICK STOP AFTER ABOUT 300-400 FT. NEITHER MY PAX NOR I WAS JOLTED SIGNIFICANTLY, AND SUSTAINED NO INJURIES. THE PROP STRUCK THE SOFT GND WHILE WINDMILLING, AND SUSTAINED A SLIGHT BEND IN 1 BLADE -- ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLE. ONE OF THE GEAR DOOR COVERS WAS SLIGHTLY BENT. OTHERWISE, THERE WAS NO OBVIOUS DAMAGE TO THE ACFT. WE WALKED TO THE FARMER'S HOUSE (WHO HAD OBSERVED OUR LNDG FROM HIS WINDOW) AND CALLED CHICO TWR AND THE LCL FSDO TO RPT THE LNDG. 2 DAYS LATER, I FLEW THE ACFT OUT OF THE FIELD TO CHICO ARPT WITH A FERRY PERMIT. ALTHOUGH I FULLY REALIZE THAT WHENEVER A PLT RUNS OUT OF FUEL, IT IS PLT ERROR, IN THIS CASE, I FEEL THAT HAD I BEEN GIVEN PRIORITY OVER THE OTHER 2 ACFT WHICH LANDED AHEAD OF ME AT CHICO ARPT, I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THIS OFF ARPT LNDG. NATURALLY I SHOULD HAVE REFUELED BEFORE DEPARTING TO INSURE THAT I HAD ENOUGH FUEL. I THOUGHT I HAD THIS AMOUNT OF FUEL -- 28 GALS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. SINCE I WAS IN THE AIR FOR 56 MINS BEFORE FUEL EXHAUSTION, THAT WOULD NORMALLY REQUIRE ONLY ABOUT 24 GALS OF FUEL -- 4 GALS FOR WARM-UP AND TAXI AND 20 GALS FOR THE 56 MINS OF FLT. I MUST EITHER HAVE BURNED FUEL AT A HIGHER RATE, OR HAD LESS THAN 28 GALS TO START. HAD THE CTLR GIVEN ME PRIORITY OVER ALL OTHER ACFT (EXCEPT OTHERS WITH AN EMER OR MINIMUM FUEL), I COULD HAVE COMPLETED THE APCH TO CHICO EASILY WITH NO FUEL PROBS. NEXT TIME, I WILL DECLARE AN EMER WHENEVER I FEEL THAT FUEL WILL BE A POSSIBLE PROB, RATHER THAN SIMPLY DECLARING 'MINIMUM FUEL' AND TRUSTING THE CTLR TO GIVE ME PRIORITY. I DID NOT DECLARE AN EMER, SINCE I DID NOT CONSIDER IT A REAL EMER, BUT ONLY FELT I NEEDED PRIORITY OVER OTHER ACFT FOR IMMEDIATE LNDG BECAUSE OF THE FUEL SHORTAGE. I THOUGHT THAT THE DECLARATION OF 'MINIMUM FUEL' WOULD HAVE GIVEN ME THIS PRIORITY. APPARENTLY EITHER I HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PHRASE, 'MINIMUM FUEL,' OR THE CTLR DID NOT HANDLE ME AS I FELT WAS REQUIRED UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE.

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.