During preflight refueling, the Kitfox pilot reported he closed a fuel shutoff valve located at each wing root to prevent cross feeding.
Upon starting the engine and preparing for takeoff, he verified that the main fuel valve was in the on position, but failed to open the fuel shutoff valve located on each wing, causing the engine to run only from the approximate 1.5 gallons of fuel contained in the header tank.
Just after takeoff the engine lost power as a result of fuel starvation.
During the subsequent off airport forced landing near Kamiah, Idaho, the airplane sustained substantial damage to left and right wings, empennage, and vertical stabilizer.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot’s failure to open the fuel shutoff valves for each fuel tank before takeoff.
NTSB Identification: WPR14CA333
This August 2014 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Again………… GRAVITY BROUGHT DOWN THE AIRCRAFT…………. what contributed to allowing GRAVITY to overcome Thrust, lift……….. the PIC!
Bad headline… again…………….. headline should point to the problem, not confuse people….. the PIC was the problem… not the aircraft, not the valves….. the PIC. The airspace between the PIC’s eardrums was the problem…….
PIC error………. aircraft heavy damaged! Should be the headline.
Just stop it already Bill. Nobody wants to read your critiques of the headlines. In this case, the take away is don’t forget to open the fuel valves. And the headline very much reinforces that point. And it DOES fault the PIC in the language by saying “failure to open…” One more thing… we ALL know that gravity brings down planes, so if you don’t have something useful to add, please just keep it to yourself. There IS such a thing as a non-posted thought.
It never ceases to amaze me. How many pilots put their lives in jeopardy because they don’t look at a checklist. Human memory is fallible, the checklist is there for a reason. USE IT!
It happens, but that what a check list is for. Good intentions are only a memory after you forget.