Date: 201906
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ELA.Airport, TX
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Small Transport
Operator: Personal
Operating under: Part 91
Flight plan: None
Mission: Training
Flight phase: Landing
Airspace: Class G ZHU
ATC / advisory: CTAF ELA
Reporter organization: Personal
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Human factors: Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Taxi
Result: Flight Crew Diverted
Contributing factors: Chart Or Publication; Human Factors; Procedure
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: I was hired as a safety pilot for time building in owner's airplane. Owner is a commercial instrument pilot and acting as PIC. The owner had some time after work to fly so we decided to meet at XA:00 local to fly before the end of the day. Our legs for the day included a departure from ZZZ-ZZZ1-ELA-ZZZ2-ZZZ. We departed ZZZ at XB:00 local due to an install of a new GPS. After our first landing at ZZZ1 I noticed that we would need fuel in order to make it back to home base at ZZZ. I suggested to the owner that we fly to a nearby airport to fill up with Jet A+ because ZZZ1 did not have fuel available. We decided to go to ELA because of the price of fuel. We departed ZZZ1 with 1 hr of fuel en route to ELA. Upon reaching ELA we noticed that there were a pair of yellow x's in the grass near the approach end of the runway. The owner pulled out his phone to check the current NOTAMS and showed me that there were no NOTAMS depicting a runway closure. With the fuel getting low we decided to land and get fuel. The X's were off the runway like they had been removed from the runway and I thought that the runway may have been previously closed and was open now. We landed the plane and taxied over to the self-serve pumps to find that they had been blocked off to repair the concrete. Having no access to fuel we decided to depart to ZZZ2 that was nearby to get fuel. We took off with about 40 min of fuel and landed at ZZZ2 with about 30 min of fuel left. At this time I pulled out my phone to check current NOTAMS and found that ELA did have a NOTAM for a runway closure. We fueled up and departed back to ZZZ and debriefed our mistake and what we could have done to prevent this. My debrief pin pointed the fact that we were flying VFR and not on flight following. We did not check the NOTAMS before going to ELA and did not see that they had a runway closure. We left ZZZ without full tanks and decided to get fuel at a cheaper price at an airport to be determined later. A plan of action should have been made to know which airport we would be going to get fuel and a full brief of NOTAMS should have taken place of these airports. As an instructor; even though I was acting as the safety pilot for the mission; it is my responsibility for the safe operation of the flight. Unnecessary risk was taken when the choice was made to land at ELA with fuel running low. The runway could have been contaminated and we could have been stuck at that airport. It comes down to taking the time to do a thorough preflight and brief to become aware of all available information to safely complete the flight. We returned to ZZZ with no damage to the plane or anyone else.




Synopsis: Safety Pilot reported landing on closed runway.