Mis-fueling accident

[drseti]

On May 28th, 2020 the pilot and three passengers on board an Aero Commander 500S airplane, owned by the State of Alaska and operated by the Division of Forestry, were injured when the airplane crashed shortly after take-off. According to the NTSB’s Preliminary Report “A post-accident examination revealed that the reciprocating engine airplane had been inadvertently serviced with Jet A fuel.” Tragically, this is a pattern that we continue to see.

We need to prevent this from happening again. Aircraft misfueling events are tragic, not only because of the loss of life, and serious injuries involved but also because each one was preventable.

There is a shared responsibility between Pilots and FBO staff to properly communicate fuel orders on every occasion. NATA implores all pilots and FBO staff to take advantage of our free Misfueling Prevention Program at www.PreventMisfueling.com. The program includes online training with individual learning tracks designed specifically for Pilots, Line Service Specialists, CSRs, and FBO Managers. It also includes our Misfueling Prevention Operational Best Practices 35a-35c which cover the policies and procedures required for fuel orders, over-wing fueling nozzles, and grade verification along with other industry resources dedicated to misfueling prevention.

The training and information at http://www.PreventMisfueling.com are all free and openly available to everyone. Together, we can PREVENT MISFUELINGS.

[ShawnM]

Thanks for sharing Paul, these people were very lucky and this accident was certainly "avoidable". This same thing happened last October to a prominent surgeon from here in the Tampa Bay area and tragically he wasn't so lucky. He was killed when his Piper Aerostar was accidentally filled with 163 gallons of Jet A and he crashed shortly after takeoff.

Please be mindful when someone else if fueling your plane, the fuel type is always posted in large letters on the fuel truck. I have only had full service fueling ONCE at Sebring and that was because they were resurfacing the ramp near the fuel farm and the only option was full service.

Save a Life-page-001 (Small).jpg (54.86 KiB) Viewed 5453 times

[FastEddieB]

Good head’s up!

I know some Cirrus turbo owners remove the “TURBO” decals, so that a new or inattentive lineman might not confuse “TURBO” with “TURBINE” and somehow force Jet-A into them.

[drseti]

Early turbocharged Bonanzas had the same cowling decal, Eddie, leading to similar accidents. What a stupid marketing ploy! The American Bonanza Society cautioned everybody to remove them.

[chicagorandy]

I would have thought there would be rather BOLD stickers on fuel ports indicating what liquid is required? Or as is the case at any gas station where the diesel nozzle won't fit into a vehicle's gas fuel filler?

But sadly I fear these incidents further support both Darwin and Mrs. Gump.

[drseti]

Yes, there are labels, but they can be ignored or overlooked. Yes, there are different nozzles, but theat does no good when someone feels through a filter funnel..

We have a white 100LL fuel truck on our airport, parked right next to an identical-looking white Jet A truck. Yes, they have signs on the front bumpers, but I could see hiw mistakes could still happen. My suction is to have half a dozen fuel cans in my hangar. The FBO is allowed to fill those, but never my airplane. That's done by my students, renters, or me personally, from the cans. I teach my students how to check each can for contents before fueling (it's a quick and simple test).

Cone to think of it, this might make a good topic for a future webinar!

[3Dreaming]

We had an incident here a few years back where a student added 5 gallons of Jet A to his Cessna 172 for his night flight back home to Kentucky, from the self serve pumps. They are clearly marked. He was lucky that it didn't have an engine failure, but a later examination of the engine determined there was damage. I was actually the one who realized there was a problem because he didn't pick up his receipt. I looked up the owner by the aircraft registration number on the receipt in the FAA database.

[chicagorandy]

Like I said, Darwin and Mrs Gump are often near prophetic in their assertions. And to quote that illustrious philosopher and humorist Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour) - "You can't 'fix' stupid, stupid is forever."

[Wm.Ince]

Additionally, "type of fuel" should always be printed on the fuel receipt.
This type of accident results from complacency at all levels.
It demonstrates how easy it is to overlook the obvious.
Distraction usually plays a major role.

[3Dreaming]

Not the same, but I had a fuel indecent of a different type once. I dropped our T-Craft off at Oshkosh about a week early one year and had a pilot who flew pipeline patrol come pick me up. He had ask a friend to ride along. After dropping the airplane off we departed and stopped at Fond du Lac for fuel and lunch. I was riding in the back seat as a passenger. We parked at the pump, ask that it be topped off, and went to lunch. Upon return I went in the office and paid for the fuel. We went to the airplane climbed in and as the pilot was getting ready to start the airplane I ask if they had checked the fuel. They had not, and it had not been topped off. I had paid for someone else's fuel. It goes to show the importance of a pre-flight even if you have already been flying the airplane.

[foresterpoole]

I'm a huge proponent of checking the tanks thoroughly before a flight. I've annoyed many a CFI or pilot waiting for the pump by insisting we tank up (when weight and balance allows) even if it's just an hour in the air, then sumping everything again to make sure there was no water. Unfortunately, most of the aircraft I rent stay outside or sit for a period of time. In both cases water can accumulate in the tanks, while I have never found water, another pilot did and found A LOT. It appears a lineman or student filled up the tanks of a C172, then forgot to tighten the cap properly. It rained for three days straight and you can imagine the mess that caused....