SR22 runs out of fuel 253 miles NE of Maui

Runincolorado

Runincolorado

Well-Known Member
Interesting video of the deployment and splash down with everyone surviving. I also assume he was trying to make it to Hawaii from the mainland vs sightseeing off the coast. Wherever he was coming from, a good reminder to check your fuel planning.

"A pilot successfully ditched his plane 253 miles northeast of the Hawaiian island of Maui after going into an incredible nosedive, according to a US Coast Guard video. "

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The pilot, flying a single-engine Cirrus SR-22, had to take emergency actions after his aircraft ran out of fuel. The plane quickly fell into a nosedive before deploying its parachute. Fortunately for the pilot, the US Coast Guard witnessed the incident and deployed a rescue ship.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pilot-ditching-plane-close-to-hawaii-video-2015-1#ixzz3PwywiOCh
 
xargos

xargos

Well-Known Member
Good that nobody got hurt, great advertisement for Cirrus. Do they have a special checklist for ditching? ( ie: close door, cut canopy loose etc.. ) It looks like he could stay afloat longer if the chute didn't drag.
 
CFI A&P

CFI A&P

Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
killbilly said:
I will - knowing how little I know as a very-low-time-PPL - ask this question with the utmost of wide-eyed sincerity:

Did this plane really originate the flight in California? Because it's more than 2000 mi to Hawaii from CA. And the airplane has....what....max 1200 mi range?

EDIT - Because I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I did some googling and with the exception of Midway island, (1500mi) the closest land mass to Hawaii is at the tip of the Aleutian chain and is still more than 1500 mi.

It's making my head 'splodey...how the hell did he let this happen?
Click to expand...

The report I read stated it was a ferry flight with additional tanks installed and the tank valve failed.

I fly with a guy that was a ferry pilot for 20 years, has flown everything across the Atlantic and Pacific. Including a Cirrus from the factory to Australia with stops in Hawaii and other places along the Pacific. On another trip he was going east across the Atlantic and had such strong tailwinds that he didn't even need the ferry fuel (he had it onboard anyway).
 
Apophis

Apophis

Resident Iconoclast
killbilly said:
I will - knowing how little I know as a very-low-time-PPL - ask this question with the utmost of wide-eyed sincerity:

Did this plane really originate the flight in California? Because it's more than 2000 mi to Hawaii from CA. And the airplane has....what....max 1200 mi range?

EDIT - Because I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I did some googling and with the exception of Midway island, (1500mi) the closest land mass to Hawaii is at the tip of the Aleutian chain and is still more than 1500 mi.

It's making my head 'splodey...how the hell did he let this happen?
Click to expand...

I have ~1,100 hours in SR22s, and can tell you there's no way you can get from the West Coast to Hawai'i with the standard 92 gallons of usable fuel (81 for Generation 2 Cirri).

*edit*

Unless it was a ferry flight with additional tanks installed. Don't tase me, bro.
 
killbilly

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
skypilot6 said:
http://www.kitv.com/news/pilot-expected-to-ditch-off-maui/30916578

Watch to the end of the video, It says the pilot had a mechanical problem with the auxiliary fuel tanks and was unable to transfer fuel.
Click to expand...

Okay. So...there was aux fuel, and he clearly thought he had enough gas to make it, huh? I suppose that makes more sense.

I did not know that you could get aux fuel tanks into/onto a Cirrus. Is that a factory option? Does a mech rig up temporary fuel bladders? Based on what @CFI A&P is saying, this is way more common than I realized. Interested to know more.
 
M

mshunter

Well-Known Member
killbilly said:
I will - knowing how little I know as a very-low-time-PPL - ask this question with the utmost of wide-eyed sincerity:

Did this plane really originate the flight in California? Because it's more than 2000 mi to Hawaii from CA. And the airplane has....what....max 1200 mi range?

EDIT - Because I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I did some googling and with the exception of Midway island, (1500mi) the closest land mass to Hawaii is at the tip of the Aleutian chain and is still more than 1500 mi.

It's making my head 'splodey...how the hell did he let this happen?
Click to expand...

He was ferrying it, and couldn't get gas from the ferry tanks.
 
CFI A&P

CFI A&P

Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
Not usually a factory option. But it is a common event on each coast. Fly the plane to the coast before departing. Have a shop install the temporary tanks and valves, submit the 337 for major alteration and repair. Then launch. Remove tanks at destination and ship them back.
 
drunkenbeagle

drunkenbeagle

Gang Member
killbilly said:
I did not know that you could get aux fuel tanks into/onto a Cirrus. Is that a factory option? Does a mech rig up temporary fuel bladders? Based on what @CFI A&P is saying, this is way more common than I realized. Interested to know more.
Click to expand...

In many aircraft, you can either have aux tanks added via an STC, or ferry tanks. This typically means being well over gross and having permission from the Feds to do so. The main drawback for most aux tanks I have flown is that there is no way to use the fuel in these tanks without pumping it into the main tanks. This means there is also no good way to test the fuel transfer until you have burned down a good amount of fuel. And a whole bunch of single points of failure, as you need the fuel pump, transfer pump, electrical system, etc, all working.
 
knot4u

knot4u

Repeat Offender
I've installed ferry tanks into a Lear 25. It's pretty crude but it works. The one I played with had electric pumps and a hand pump as a backup, and the 337 came from Gates.
 
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