CEN19LA257

After the pilot completed two touch-and-go landings, the airplane was climbing when the engine lost total power. He advanced the throttle full forward, but the engine did not respond. The pilot did not attempt to troubleshoot the loss of power and did not check the fuel selector valve position. The pilot flew the airplane under power lines and executed a forced landing in the marsh during which the airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage and ailerons. The pilot stated that before takeoff, the left and right main fuel tanks contained 15 and 13 gallons, respectively, and the wing tip fuel tanks contained minimal fuel. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector value was positioned to the left tip tank; the tank was not breached during the accident and contained about 10 ounces of fuel. Based on the evidence, it is likely that the pilot did not verify the fuel selector position and had the left tip tank selected, which did not contain enough usable fuel. Thus, the engine experienced a total loss of power due to fuel starvation.

On August 3, 2019, about 1015 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-235 airplane, N951TS, experienced a loss of engine power and conducted a forced landing in a marsh near Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), Jacksonville, Florida. The private pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage to the ailerons and fuselage. The airplane was registered to Airneck, Inc., and operated by a private individual under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight departed CRG about 1004. In a postaccident statement, the pilot reported that before the flight he completed a preflight inspection of the airplane and sumped the four fuel tanks and found no evidence of contamination. He estimated that there was minimal fuel in each wing tip tanks, about 15 gallons in the left main tank, and about 13 gallons in the right main tank. He stated that he normally uses the tip tanks during cruise flight. During his last cross-country flight, he used the fuel from the tips tanks and had not refueled them since. The pilot added that during the accident flight he had completed the second touch-and-go landing on runway 32 and then climbed out through 450 ft. He started a right turn and reduced the throttle and propeller settings when the engine experienced a total loss of power. He advanced the throttle full forward but the engine did not respond. The pilot leveled the wings and descended to the north. He did not attempt to troubleshoot the loss of engine power and also did not check the fuel selector valve position. During the descent, he maneuvered the airplane under a set of large power lines then executed a forced landing in the marsh. After about 3 bounces the right wing contacted the water and the airplane rotated about 90° right, then came to rest upright. The pilot exited the airplane and did not complete any of the checklist items to secure the airplane since the airplane was taking on a lot of water. The local law enforcement reported that there was no fuel spill at the accident site. The responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that the airplane sustained damage to the bottom of the fuselage during the accident. The fuel selector was found on the left tip tank. The left tip tank was not breached during the accident and contained about 10 ounces of aviation gasoline.