Pilot Debrief

BEECH A36TC near Fayetteville, NC — 2012-07-28

Final reportERA12LA489
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Date
2012-07-28
Location
Fayetteville, NC, USA
Airport
FAY
Aircraft
BEECH A36TC
Registration
N6672X
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

NTSB narrative

While conducting a preflight inspection, the pilot observed that the right wing fuel tank was leaking at the sump on the underside of the wing. He also noted that there was no fuel in the right wing tank; however, the left wing tank contained about 33 gallons. The pilot then departed on a cross-country flight with the intention of landing at an intermediate airport that had appropriate maintenance services to have the fuel sump inspected. Upon reaching the intermediate airport, the pilot elected to continue to his original destination airport instead. While on final approach for landing at the destination airport, the engine experienced a total loss of power, and the pilot performed a forced landing to a field just short of the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that both left and right wing fuel tanks were intact and absent of fuel; however, fuel quantity indicators for the tanks read 1/8 and 1/4 full, respectively. Postaccident fuel consumption calculations indicated that the airplane should have consumed about 24 gallons of fuel during the accident flight, thus it is possible that there was less fuel than the pilot observed in the left tank before departure. During a test run after fuel was supplied, the engine started on the first attempt, and ran smoothly and continuously through all power settings with no anomalies observed.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Fuel management
First missed decision gate
Pilot should have addressed fuel leak before departure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 6 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents6

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