- Date
- November 5, 2014, 11:10 local (18:10 UTC)
- Place
- Havasu City, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N149DSBeech A35
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA, Textron Aviation
- FAA report
- 20141105022569A
- Case key
- 90357
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's failure to properly operate the fuel selector valve.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he was level cruise at 10,500 feet mean sea level, when he moved the fuel selector from the right tank to the left tank. The airplane was equipped with the Beech fuel selector valve disengagement warning light kit. The fuel selector is a combined fuel pump and valve assembly. The handle can be lifted up and down to pump fuel, but in this condition it is not engaged with the selector valve portion of the assembly. When the fuel selector handle and the fuel valve do not agree, the red 'fuel' light illuminates. When the pilot selected the left tank the red 'fuel' light illuminated. He cross checked the fuel flow and fuel pressure, both of which were in the normal range. A few minutes later he entered an en-route descent, when the engine began to lose power. He pumped the fuel pump, the red 'fuel' light remained ON, and the engine did not regain power. The pilot executed a forced landing onto a road and damaged the left wing during the landing roll. A post accident examination of the airplane was performed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a technical representative from the airplane manufacturer. The fuel selector valve was found to operate as designed. The red 'fuel' light illuminated when the fuel selector handle was not engaged with the valve and aligned with the fuel tank that provides fuel to the engine. Additionally, the engine was test run and found to operate normally.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was level cruise at 10,500 feet mean sea level, when he moved the fuel selector from the right tank to the left tank. The airplane was equipped with the Beech fuel selector valve disengagement warning light kit. The fuel selector is a combined fuel pump and valve assembly. The handle can be lifted up and down to pump fuel, but in this condition it is not engaged with the selector valve portion of the assembly. When the fuel selector handle and the fuel valve do not agree, the red 'fuel' light illuminates.When the pilot selected the left tank the red 'fuel' light illuminated. He cross checked the fuel flow and fuel pressure, both of which were in the normal range. A few minutes later he entered an en-route descent, when the engine began to lose power. He pumped the fuel pump, the red 'fuel' light remained ON, and the engine did not regain power. The pilot executed a forced landing onto a road and damaged the left wing during the landing roll. A post accident examination of the airplane was performed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a technical representative from the airplane manufacturer. The fuel selector valve was found to operate as designed. The red 'fuel' light illuminated when the fuel selector handle was not engaged with the valve and aligned with the fuel tank that provides fuel to the engine. Additionally, the engine was test run and found to operate normally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N149DS
- Reported as
- Beech A35 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-2152
- Built
- 1949
- Airframe hours
- 6,282
- Engine
- Continental E-185-11, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Buffaloe Thomas N
- Registered owner
- Buffaloe Thomas N
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 25, 2014 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- KCEZ · Cortez, CO
- Destination
- P20 · Parker, AZ
- Airport
- KHII · Lake Havasu City
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 2, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 7,044 total · 24 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KHII, 25 nm away
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 5, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.