Page 18 - Volume 18 Number 3

Twin Proficiency:we’ve spent a lot of money on the airplane. Gradually, if we fly with a known problem but nothing bad happens as a result, we become more and more comfortable with the flaw or indication, until the unusual situation becomes the “new normal.” We develop personal tricks and work-arounds to accommodate the problem, and chalk the issues up to the “personality” of thatNo airplane is perfect. Things have a way of breaking. We often ignore aircraft imperfections, however, and try to come up with ways around their shortcomings, instead of making sure they are repaired. This can get us into serious trouble.From the NTSB:The pilot of a Beechcraft King Air C90 said that he started the accident flight with 500 pounds of fuel, which he thought was sufficient for the flight. Approximately 12 miles from the destination airport, both engines lost power. The pilot was vectored to a turf strip, 2,700 feet long. He spotted the airport through breaks in the cloud layer and landed on the wet grass. The airplane overran the runway and impacted trees.The pilot stated that he determined the fuel quantity by referring to the fuel quantity gauges, and that the right fuel quantity16 • TWIN & TURBINEindicator “consistently reads two hundred pounds less than the left” fuel quantity indicator and that it “flutters in flight, sweeping from 0-1,200 pounds before settling on the fuel remaining.” Post-crash examination of the airplane showed that it contained no usable fuel and there was no evidence of in-flight or post-accident fuel leakage from the airplane. No evidence of pre-crash failure of the aircraft fuel system or engines was found.The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s improper preflight planning and preparation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s reliance on inaccurate fuel gauges.Pilots tend to be optimists. We expect our airplanes and engines to work. We’re reluctant to admit there may be a problem, sinceMARCH 2014CreepingBy Thomas P. Turner