You can contribute by submitting additional or updated information.
| Date: | Monday 25 February 2013 |
| Time: | 15:45 |
| Type: |  Cessna 180 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZK-BEZ |
| MSN: | 30617 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Piopio -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA NZ |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
When the pilot lowered the nose at top of descent, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot attempted a forced landing on a farm airstrip, but the approach was high and fast, and after touchdown, the pilot deliberately ground-looped the air craft in an attempt to stop. The left undercarriage leg failed with resulting damage to the left wing and tailplane. Before departure, the pilot had measured the total fuel quantity as 104 litres, and subtracted what he thought was the unusable fuel of 8 litres, leaving 96 litres usable. His calculated flight time was 1 hour and 35 minutes, on a planned fuel consumption of 55 l/h. The pilot had miscalculated the total fuel required for the flight. For 1 hour 35 minutes flight time, he required 88 litres plus a further 28 litres to cover the 30-minute VFR reserve requirement, giving a total minimum usable fuel quantity of 116 litres. The Owner's Manual for this aircraft states that as well as the 8 litres unusable fuel, there is another 11.5 litres usable only in level flight. This means that 19 litres must be considered unusable and subtracted from the total fuel dipstick reading to allow for flight in non-level attitudes. The legal minimum fuel requirement for this flight was 135 litres.
Sources:
CAA NZ Occurrence 13/935
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 29 January 1959 | ZK-BEZ | Hawkes Bay & East Coast Aero Club | 0 | Ngahinapouri, Waikato | |
sub |
| 7 April 1973 | ZK-BEZ | A J Plank & I K Garlick | 0 | Whangarei, Northland | |
unk |
| 4 November 1985 | ZK-BEZ | M F & R I Udy | Chalky Inlet, Fiordland NP | |
unk |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-May-2025 18:06 | ASN | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2025 Flight Safety Foundation