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Improperly seated fuel cap results in fuel starvation

By NTSB · September 24, 2019 ·

The commercial pilot reported that the Beech N35 was nearing the destination at the conclusion of a long cross-country flight when the engine experienced a total loss of power.

He declared an emergency and conducted a forced landing to a highway near South Bend, Indiana.

During the forced landing, the airplane hit an elevated island and a car and was substantially damaged.

A post-accident examination of the airplane revealed blue-colored fuel stains streaking from the right wing fuel filler aft to the trailing edge of the right wing flap.

The right fuel tank contained one cup of fuel and the left fuel tank had about 10 gallons of fuel. It is likely that the right fuel cap was not seated properly before takeoff, which resulted in the siphoning of the fuel during the flight, and a subsequent total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

Probable cause: The improperly seated fuel cap, which resulted in an in-flight fuel leak and subsequent total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.

NTSB Identification: CEN17LA348

This September 2017 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.

About NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation, including railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. It determines the probable causes of accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.

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Comments

  1. Joe Henry Gutierrez says

    September 25, 2019 at 10:52 am

    Was this an old pilot ( in his late 70’s) I was just told that older pilots do this kind of thing and cause accidents. Young people don’t do this??? That’s why older pilots get charged approximately $500.00 more per year on an average airplane for insurance !!! I suppose that’s about right, after all I don’t really know that much about aircraft insurance..So be it!!! This is what I was just told by an insurance salesman… What an insult..In other words, experience and hours behind the yoke don’t mean much, It’s all about your age..Unlike auto insurance, 80 year old people, male and female driving 40 foot long motor homes down the freeway, no insurance premium ??? that’s o.k. @#$%&.

    • JimH in CA says

      September 25, 2019 at 5:44 pm

      The pilot was in his 70’s , like a lot of us.
      This link should answer your question;
      https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2018/august/pilot/ownership-as-good-as-i-once-was.

      ‘Stupid pilot tricks’ are done by pilots of all ages and experience.

  2. Sarah A says

    September 25, 2019 at 10:12 am

    So it would seem that the pilot never bothered to look outside at the wings to see if all was well during the flight and did not monitor the fuel gauges for the entire flight or he would have noticed a problem developing The flight was day VFR and he was a high time pilot so what explanation can be given other then pilot error. Also it should be noted that the standard procedure for landing an aircraft that does not gravity feed is the selection of the fullest tank. It would appear that the pilot just assumed that he had the correct tank selected without making any reference to the gauges and he paid the price for his complacency. If there is any silver lining to this dark cloud, nobody died and the aircraft’s damage was light enough that it will fly again. The plane will fly again but I am not so sure that the pilot should if this is the best he can muster in the way of professionalism.

    • JimH in CA says

      September 25, 2019 at 11:26 am

      Sarah,
      I agree with all that you’ve said.
      He was a high time, older guy with enough time in type to now it well.
      He had a passenger, [ his wife], who apparently didn’t look out the right window to see fuel streaming out the loose cap.
      Also, during landing the POH advises to ‘select the fuller tank’ which requires the pilot to actually look at the gauges. He had 45 min of fuel in the left tank.
      I’ll assume that he got directions from the tower to make a straight in approach. And he set himself up to not be able to glide to the runway from his short final position.

      So, the pilot crashed due running a tank dry on short final…..more stupid pilot tricks.!

  3. Gbenga Amedrovi says

    September 25, 2019 at 4:41 am

    Always check and recheck…if possible ask someone else to double check. “Never be in a hurry to die”.

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