On March 4, 2007, a Beech 95-C55 (registration N100FG) was involved in an aviation accident near Port Orange, FL. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during initial climb resulting in inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper positioning of the left fuel selector which resulted in fuel starvation to the left engine. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
An airplane yawed left after takeoff, climbing no more than 75 feet. After clearing a hangar by 25 feet, it banked right, rolled left, and impacted nearly vertical. Fuel selectors were set to auxiliary tanks contrary to placard.
Incident Sequence
The airplane was observed to yaw to the left immediately after becoming airborne. It climbed no more than 75 feet above ground level while flying southbound with the landing gear extended. Several witnesses reported hearing a sputtering or surging sound from the left engine. After clearing the roof of a hangar by only 25 feet while in a nose-up attitude, the airplane banked to the right, then rolled to the left, pitched down, and impacted the ground nearly vertical. It came to rest with the empennage elevated approximately 20 degrees past vertical.
Examination Findings
No preimpact failure or malfunction was noted with the flight controls. Both fuel selectors were found set to the auxiliary tank position, contrary to a placard adjacent to both fuel selectors. The left auxiliary fuel tank contained approximately 1/4 gallon of 100LL uncontaminated fuel, and the right auxiliary fuel tank contained approximately 9.0 gallons of uncontaminated 100LL fuel. The left engine was placed in a test stand and found to operate normally. Examination of the right engine revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Fuel injection components of the right engine were bench tested or examined with no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction.