Page 20 - Volume 16 Number 6

Twin Proficiency
Lost
by Thomas P. Turner
pilot filed the flight plan and the other conducted the preflight of the airplane. About 20 minutes later, they taxied out for departure and at approximately 0534 the pilots took off. After takeoff the pilots climbed to a cruising altitude of 27,000 feet.
The flight was uneventful until the pilots observed that the fuel gauges were reading lower than they anticipated. According to air traffic control, sometime later the pilots reported that they were having engine problems and declared an emergency. The crew then successfully ditched the King Air in the Caribbean.
A ship-based military helicopter arrived at the ditching site and hoisted the pilots out of a life raft. The ship arrived at the ditching location about an hour later and reported that the airplane had sunk.
Television and online news reports showed the King Air floating perfectly upright, the two pilots waiting patiently in a nearby raft. Clearly the crew skillfully controlled the airplane through impact with the sea, such that the airplane did not break up, and it remained afloat long enough for the pilots to inflate their raft and evacuate. No one was hurt, although the virtually new King Air (reported as approximately 13 hours total time) was lost. Good job, yes?
On April 3, 2012, a Hawker Beechcraft C90GTx ditched in the waters of the Caribbean Sea following a dual loss of engine power during cruise. The flight departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FXE) and was destined for Hato International Airport (TNCC), Willemstad, Curacao. The airline transport pilot and his pilot- rated passenger were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed for the delivery flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The day before, the pilots took delivery of the newly manufactured airplane at Beech Factory Airport, Wichita, Kansas. The pilots then departed for FXE on the first leg of the delivery flight. During the leg from BEC to FXE the pilots made a decision to divert. After 3:15 of flight time, they landed at Marianna, Florida and added 153 gallons of fuel.
After taking on fuel, they departed for FXE, arriving after 1:54 of flight time. The pilots gave a fuel request to the customer service agent at the fixed base operator and advised them that they would be departing at 0500 on the following day. The airplane was fueled about 20 minutes later.
At approximately 0400 the next morning the pilots returned. One
Well yes, from the time of dual engine failure to crew evacuation. But why might the King Air have ended up in the water in the first place?
Dual engine failure in a multi- engine airplane is almost certainly due to one of three things:
1. Fuel exhaustion (running completely out of gas)
2. Fuel starvation (running one or two tanks dry and not getting an engine relight on tanks that still contain fuel)
3. Fuel contamination
Let’s look at each possibility:
Fuel contamination. It may be possible that contaminated fuel caused simultaneous engine failure. But it’s not likely. Turbine airplanes aren’t as susceptible to improper fuel types as are piston powerplants. If the contamination is water or some other foreign substance in the fuel, it’s likely to show up very early in the flight. It’s quite unlikely that contaminated fuel would have caused dual engine failure more than three hours after the final takeoff.
Fuel starvation. Modern King Airs have very simple fuel selection systems. Although it is possible the pilots may have inadvertently run
18 • TWIN & TURBINE
JUNE 2012