The airline transport pilot departed on a long, cross-country flight at night with full fuel tanks. According to the pilot, the fuel selector was set to the left main fuel tank on departure and he moved it to the auxiliary tank about one hour later.
About one to two hours after that, he moved the fuel selector switch to the right main fuel tank, where it remained for the remainder of the flight (about 30 minutes).
The flight was uneventful until it was on final approach to land at the airport in State College, Pennsylvania. Between about 400 and 500 feet above ground level, the Beech 35’s engine suddenly stopped producing power.
The pilot recalled the passenger saying there was no fuel pressure, and he immediately pushed the throttle and mixture full forward and retracted the flaps. He also turned on the auxiliary fuel pump and pressed the starter button to restart the engine to no avail. He did not switch the fuel selector to another tank.
Due to the low altitude, he slowed the plane and conducted an emergency landing in trees, during which both wings, the fuselage, and the tail section sustained substantial damage.
Post-accident examination of the engine and fuel system revealed no evidence of any pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The fuel selector was found set to the right main fuel tank, which was empty. However, measurable fuel was found in the remaining three tanks. Therefore, the loss of engine power was likely due to the pilot’s mismanagement of the available fuel, which resulted in the loss of all engine power due to fuel starvation.
Probable cause: The pilot’s mismanagement of the available fuel, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
NTSB Identification: ERA19LA024
This October 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.
It think that all fuel systems should be designed to run from “both” tanks, instead of right/left. My AC can do that and I try to always run it on “both”.
I read too many reports of off field landings where sufficient fuel remains in another tank but the PIC failed to switch tanks.
I realize that would have not helped in this case. It seems like an easy fix. Perhaps I’m missing something. I used to run from the pilot side first for weight distribution but decided it wasn’t worth the potential mishap if I screwed up.
It would be nice if all aircraft could run on ‘both’, except that low wing aircraft don’t have the gravity head, like a high wing Cessna, so require a pump to pull the fuel to the engine. If one tank was empty, the pump would be sucking air, not fuel.
This Beech has 4 tanks, so it would be complicated to flow fuel from all 4 at the same time, especially since the return fuel goes into the left main….which is why that tanks is used for a hour.
I suppose that an ‘alerter’ could signal the pilot when to switch tanks, based on time and fuel flow. But that assumes starting with known quantities in all tanks…
Put tip tanks on this and you’ve got 6 tanks to manage….ouch.!
GUMP.. G – Gas on fullest tank
Thou shalt know thine endurance, lest the Earth rise up and smite thee.!
[ I’m tired of saying, ‘stupid pilot tricks ‘ ]
And one should know the memory items for engine failure. Switching tanks is the first item on the checklist in those models.
I have to wonder how much fatigue, night time, and possible distraction affected what should have been well-learned, rote reactions. When I was young and dumb, it was not uncommon to instruct from 0700 to 1700 then hope in a bird for a ferry flight bringing it back to OKC from SEA. Long dark overnight over mountains after a full day? Even rote reactions get muddled when most needed.
Some pilots just aren’t “there” when unexpectedly needed.
21/2-31/2 hour flight isn’t an endurance run and half an hour on a main tank means it wasn’t full. And what Warren said.