Question: Is there a difference between fuel exhaustion and fuel starvation?
Answer: Yes, there is a difference between fuel exhaustion and fuel starvation, but both can result in an unscheduled off-airport landing.
Fuel exhaustion occurs when the aircraft is out of usable fuel. This can happen due to poor planning.
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Say you planned to burn 7.3 gph using the power setting listed in the POH, but in reality the fuel burn was closer to 8.2, and the engine quit at an inopportune moment.
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Fuel starvation is when there is usable fuel in the aircraft but it can’t reach the engine—perhaps another tank not being utilized—but the pilot can’t access it because of a mechanical issue like a failed fuel pump, blocked fuel lines, or errors such as not understanding the fuel system, how to go about switching tanks, or failure to utilize the appropriate tank.
There have been accidents where the airplane goes down with one tank full to the tabs and the other bone dry.
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This column first appeared in the May Issue 970 of the FLYING print edition.