The pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff from the airport in Palo Alto, California, when the Beech 58 was about 500 feet above the ground, both engines lost power.
A forced landing was initiated to an open area. During the landing, the left wing hit a wooden post and was substantially damaged. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash.
The airplane was fueled before the flight. The fueler reported that he incorrectly fueled the airplane with Jet A fuel instead of avgas.
He added that he did not notice the “avgas only” label adjacent to the fuel port, and that he did not follow the company’s fueling checklist while fueling the accident airplane.
Probable Cause: The fueler’s addition of the incorrect fuel to the fuel tanks which resulted in a total loss of engine power.
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This September 2021 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.
I’m with the others. I’m glad the pilot survived, but the misfueling is on him.
Lazy Pilot!
Pilot’s Fault!
No excuse!
I’m just glad that the pilot survived. Dave
Quit being lazy pilots. There is only one person fueling my plane, me! If you don’t know how, learn. Minimum be standing there when they fuel. It’s amazing how many planes have gone down over the years because the pilots were to lazy to be around when fueling! Ask the dead pilots if it was worth being in a rush. Rushing in Avaition will always lead to an accident sight. Stand by the plane till the fuel truck shows and check the type of fuel in it. It’s your life!!
Over a period of 7 years (2014 – 2021) there have been 5 mis-fueling incidents involving 100LL and Jet-A fuel. Here are three of them with explanations: https://aerossurance.com/safety-management/wrong-fuel-pa31-accident/
One would think that by now there would be something in place, in addition to the three checks, that would make such an incident impossible to occur.
How did the “fueler” put the Jet A nozzle into the Avgas hole? Jet A fuel nozzles are “duck billed” shaped (not a round tube) and are too wide to place into a standard Avgas tank.
A VERY clever fueler indeed! I was thinking that myself.
I am curious: How much Jet-A does it take to keep the plugs from firing and getting some power from the engine(s): 2%? 10%?
I’m asking this because in this case over 100 gallons of JETA was put into this plane, so no doubt that sumping the tanks would have shown the contamination. One should (unless one has a cold) be able to smell the kerosene while sumping and the fuel should even appear with the wrong color. (I’m agreeing with both John T & JimH).
But what if this had been done so that only a gallon of JetA went into a 100 gallon tank?
I don’t think one would see it in the sumping, or smell it. I don’t think the color of the fuel would change. And that is a bit disconcerting.
That’s an interesting question on how much jet-a would damage an avgas engine.?
If 10% of the fuel was jet-a, which has an ‘octane’ rating of about 20… 10% jet-a and 90% avgas would have an octane rating of about 90. So, the engine may run ok at low power, but might detonate at 75% power. …??
In this case 130 gallons of jet-a was added to the 64 gallons of avgas remaining in the tanks. [ assuming the tanks were equal ].
So, 67% of the fuel was jet-a… and, the effective ‘octane’ rating of the mixed fuel would be about 45.
So, even low compression engines would run poorly on this mix. !!
Did the pilot LOOK at the fuel receipt? No. [Strike one]!; Did the pilot personally observe the fueling?) Uh-uh! [Strike Two!!]; Did the pilot take a fuel sample and then add a few drops of fuel to a piece of paper (the FINAL test for Jet-A vs gasoline)? NOPE!!! [Strike THREE]!!! The pilot’s the three chances to catch the error have passed. The pilot is now soggy toast…
I’m glad the pilot survived, and hope the lesson is learned. Never, EVER trust a fueler with your life and the lives of your passengers.
As a pilot I am always watching the refueler , making sure the correct fuel is put in the tanks, and then checking the fuel levels, if I want the tanks full.
Then, always sump the tanks after a few minutes to check for water and that it’s the 100LL.
So, I fault the pilot for not ensuring that the aircraft is properly refueled and safe for flight.
ref; 91.3[a].
The lowest paid aviation workers are the most important.
They’re also usually quite inexperienced.