[Flightdeck]

No kidding. You check the tanks at least twice: once by peering down the hole, once by the gauges, before taking off. And if he was doing a cross-country, you have to calculate it, also. Maybe the wind picked up big-time after he took off.

[sirshackleton]

Yup. The other important thing I learned in flight school is that a fuel gauge is only required to be correct when it reads ZERO FUEL....It can basically tell you you have full tanks the whole time, as long the needle shows zero when the fuel finally runs out, and it's still legally operational. One instructor always said "Treat your fuel gauges as if they were gossipy neighbors....there maybe some truth in what they're saying, but always confirm for yourself (by checking the tanks visually and double checking your fuel burn calcs)."