The pilot reported that, while flying over the airport in Shelby, Montana, the Piper PA-22’s engine lost power. He initiated a glide, applied mixture full rich, and restarted the engine, but during the approach the engine lost power again.
He checked the fuel gauges and the right gauge read between ¼ and ½ tank, and he switched to the left fuel tank which he knew was full. The engine restarted briefly, but then lost power.
He added that he “must not have put the selector in the correct position because he had plenty of fuel in the left tank.”
During the forced landing, the airplane landed off of the runway, rolled for about 20 to 25 feet, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest on its nose.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing.
Probable cause: The pilot’s improper use of the fuel selector, which resulted in fuel starvation to the engine and an off-runway landing.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA220
This April 2018 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.
Let’s talk about hand propping. I have seen so many pilots and passengers hand propping from the front of the plane. I was told years ago by a bush pilot always prop from the right rear side. I adopted that method and thought it was easier and safer, especially on a tail wheel. Seen lots of hand propping accidents over the years. If you hand prop a lot you can ask the FAA for a modification to install mag switches on the right rear side behind the propellor. The FAA inspectors have authority to approve that modification if you ask. Don’t be afraid to ask the FAA for help, that’s their job. Don’t be afraid to talk to the General aviation inspectors, many of them own an airplane and are interested in Aviation.
I wonder how many of these affected aircraft have inspection entries in the logs that say, RCW AD 60-10-08. I bet there are a bunch that don’t!
My PA-20 is subject to that fuel selector AD so every year it got checked. There’s a small disk inside the fuel selector that, along with an “O”-ring shaft seal, costs less than $10, and last year it got changed after 70 years. The detents are now back. Cheap fix.
AD 60-10-08 requires the functional testing of the fuel selector detents on this, and other Piper aircraft models. The AD may be 60 years old, but it’s repetitive and is required to be reaccomplished every 100 hours. It’s odd that an AD would be issued to require an inspection that should already be part of any 100 hour or annual check.
In my Cessna wrench-swinging days, I’d check each fuel selector position, including the “off” position during any pre- or post-inspection run-up to ensure proper fuel feed. It was just a sane and logical thing to do.
And so quite possibly have another red-headed step child boilerplate from the NTSB for a GA crash.
For those of you who think I am out of line — there are a few youtube channels on aviation that cover GA crashes and have noted that the NTSB *stopped* giving or making “recommendations” for GA “problems” some years ago, while they still do this for 135/121.
So the probable, or contributing, cause could very well have been the fuel selector itself. Which would mean this crash was caused by a mechanical malfunction, not “The pilot’s improper use of the fuel selector”.
Therefore, had this been a commercial operation, the NTSB would have looked at it more closely.
Probably a lack of personnel and funding to keep up with the private sector. Pre and post malfunction and abnormalities investigation I’m sure would be a tremendous workload.
Perhaps this could have been pilot failed to recognize/ignored changes in fuel valve operation.
Many states have discontinued private vehicle safety inspections and probably hasn’t been a worn out tire ticket written since…lol
I wish everyone took the time to do things correctly… as apparently you did….. but it seems that nowadays doing things the correct way…. or using common sense just isn’t in the equation often enough
If you let one side get down to 1/4 and the other full you are already guilty of creating a serious imbalance in weight distribution. But for arguments sake…if you are switching tanks CORRECTLY you switch in pre-flight, ground roll or level cruise flight…not on takeoff or landings.
I wonder if the fuel selector detents were worn. But since the NTSB didn’t travel and the people that inspected it apparently didn’t say….
Looking at a picture of a PA22’s fuel selector had me asking if this is possible because of having to replace one in a PA28-180C due to wear.