Pilot Debrief

BEECH A36TC near El Paso, TX — 2010-04-30

Final reportCEN10LA235
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Date
2010-04-30
Location
El Paso, TX, USA
Airport
ELP
Aircraft
BEECH A36TC
Registration
N3692Q
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

NTSB narrative

The pilot departed with approximately 5 hours of fuel on board for the planned cross country flight. Approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes into the flight, as the airplane was approaching the destination airport at 5,000 feet mean sea level, the engine suddenly stopped producing power. The pilot was unable to re-start the engine and elected to make a forced landing with the wing flaps and the landing gear fully extended. The airplane touched down about 2.5 miles short of the runway in rugged, desert terrain. During the landing, the gear collapsed and the wings collided with small sand dunes resulting in structural damage to the airplane. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing exhibited impact damage, but the fuel tank was intact. There was no evidence of any fuel in the tank and the green shrubs near the wing were not discolored from contact with fuel. The right wing was more extensively damaged and the fuel tank was ruptured. The smell of fuel was noted around the breached tank and it was empty. All of the fuel lines in the engine compartment were intact, secure, and showed no evidence of leaks. No fuel was found in the fuel line located between the firewall and the engine driven fuel pump; a small amount of fuel was in the fuel line from the fuel servo to the fuel distribution manifold. It could not be definitively determined which fuel tank was selected at the time the engine quit producing power.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have checked fuel levels more thoroughly before descent.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 6 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents6

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