ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 139928
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| Date: | Thursday 17 November 2011 |
| Time: | 16:19 |
| Type: |  Beechcraft C55 Baron |
| Owner/operator: | Ekl Leasing Corporation |
| Registration: | N54552 |
| MSN: | TE-37 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6027 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO 520 SERIES |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Harrison Township, near Mills, PA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Wilmington-New Castle County Airport, DE (ILG/KILG) |
| Buffalo, NY (9G0) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Location: 300 Johnson Road, Ulysses, Harrison Township, near Mills, PA.
The airplane departed on a cross-country flight with an unknown quantity of fuel. Although the pilot had asked for the main tanks to be filled, it is likely that the fueler did not add enough fuel. According to the pilot, the left main fuel gauge read inaccurately, but the pilot did not check the fuel level during his preflight inspection. Given the flight times since the airplane’s last complete fuel service, its subsequent partial fuel service, and the fuel consumption rates provided by the airplane’s owner, it is likely that the fuel supply in the left main tank was nearly exhausted during the climb after takeoff from the departure airport on the accident flight. The airplane completed the cruise portion of the flight on the auxiliary tanks, and when the fuel selectors were placed back in the main positions, the left engine stopped producing power due to fuel starvation. According to the pilot’s operating manual, the left fuel selector should have been in the main or auxiliary position, and the right fuel selector should have been in the crossfeed position. However, during the left-engine restart attempt, the pilot configured the left fuel selector to crossfeed position and the right fuel selector to the auxiliary position; such a configuration starved the right engine of fuel. When the right engine “surged,” the pilot abandoned the restart and feathered the left propeller. Restart of the right engine was also unsuccessful, and the pilot completed a power-off forced landing. The airplane’s emergency procedures and fuel system schematics revealed that, had the left engine been feathered and the fuel system configured properly by the published procedure, the right engine would have continued to operate on the fuel that remained in the right main fuel tank.
Probable Cause: The total loss of left engine power due to fuel starvation, and the pilot’s improper configuration of the fuel system during remedial actions, which resulted in fuel starvation of the right engine. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s incomplete preflight inspection and the pilot’s operation of the airplane with a known faulty fuel quantity indicating system.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
http://coudynews.com/airplane-has-crashed-into-structure-in-harrison-valley/
http://web.archive.org/web/20111221023249/http://www.wivb.com:80/dpp/news/local/small-plane-crash-near-coudersport,-pa.
http://solomonswords.blogspot.com/2011/11/dispatch-reports-plane-crash-into.html
[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.eveningtribune.com/features/x918440243/Plane-crashes-in-Harrison-Valley-Pennsylvania?img=2]
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N54552/history/20111117/2030Z/KILG/9G0
http://e0.photos.flightcdn.com/photos/retriever/e79ef46fec830abd87ff1e1b1302909b91bf7015 (photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 April 1987 | N54552 | Russel D.sink | 0 | Titusville, FL | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Nov-2011 23:42 | Alpine Flight | Added |
| 18-Nov-2011 01:37 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Nov-2011 09:47 | RobertMB | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 27-Nov-2017 17:25 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Jun-2023 12:22 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]] |
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