Definition
The condition in which an aircraft's usable fuel supply has been completely consumed, resulting in engine stoppage due to lack of fuel reaching the engine.
Plain English
The aircraft has run out of fuel. The tanks are empty, the engine has nothing left to burn, and it stops.
Context Anchor
Encountered in emergency landing discussions, fuel planning, preflight decisions, and accident reports involving engine power loss.
Derivation
From Latin exhaurire, meaning to draw out or empty completely. Fuel exhaustion literally means the fuel has been entirely drawn out — none remains.
Why Pilots Care
It forces an immediate off-airport landing and remains a preventable cause of many general aviation accidents.
Intuition Check
Fuel exhaustion does not mean the engine is simply failing to receive fuel from the selected tank. It means the aircraft has no usable fuel left to feed the engine.
Example Sentence 1
The pilot misjudged the headwinds on the cross-country and landed in a field after fuel exhaustion stopped the engine ten miles short of the destination.
Example Sentence 2
Accurate fuel calculations and reserves are required to avoid fuel exhaustion on cross-country flights.