The pilot had just acquired the airplane and was flying his first cross-country flight in it. He was not monitoring fuel quantity in the left and right fuel tanks, because he thought the fuel selector had a both selection only. However, the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank for the entire trip. On short final at his destination, the airplane’s engine lost power due to fuel starvation. The pilot performed a forced landing, which bent and wrinkled the fuselage and wings. The pilot had logged about 150 hours; five were in the accident make and model.
August 1, 2012, McKinleyville, Calif., Piper PA-22-160 Tri-Pacer
The pilot had just acquired the airplane and was flying his first cross-country flight in it. He was not monitoring fuel quantity in the left and right fuel tanks, because he thought the fuel selector had a both selection only. However, the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank for the entire trip. On short final at his destination, the airplane’s engine lost power due to fuel starvation. The pilot performed a forced landing, which bent and wrinkled the fuselage and wings. The pilot had logged about 150 hours; five were in the accident make and model.
Key Takeaways:
- A pilot unfamiliar with his newly acquired aircraft misunderstood its fuel selector system, believing only a "both" option existed.
- This led to a critical fuel management error, as he failed to monitor individual tank levels and kept the selector on the left tank for the entire flight, causing fuel starvation.
- The engine lost power on short final, resulting in a forced landing that severely damaged the airplane.
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