Accident Details
On April 27, 2014, at 1338 central daylight time, a Beech A36, registration N3078Y, executed a forced landing near Wann, Oklahoma, following a complete loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot and two passengers sustained serious injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The aircraft was registered to and operated by Dakota N8465S, Montgomery, Alabama, under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. The cross-country flight originated from Washington County Memorial Airport (K38), Washington, Kansas, at 1207, initially en route to Shawnee Regional Airport (SNL), Shawnee, Oklahoma, but later diverted to Claremore Regional Airport (GCM), Claremore, Oklahoma.
According to the pilot, he obtained a weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan before departing K38 for GCM. The airplane departed with 20 gallons of fuel in each wing tank. After 1 hour and 18 minutes of flight, he switched to the right fuel tank, and the engine lost power. Multiple attempts to restore power were unsuccessful. During the forced landing, the right wing struck a tree before the airplane impacted terrain near the intersection of Highways 5 and 406. The pilot and front-seat passenger were airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening but serious injuries; the second passenger was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. The pilot informed state troopers that they had been diverting to SNL for fuel due to strong headwinds encountered en route.
Investigation
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector, along with representatives from Continental Motors, Inc., and Textron Aviation, examined the airplane. They found no fuel in the uncompromised left wing fuel tank. The right wing fuel tank had been compromised, but no fuel stains or odor of fuel were detected on the ground. An on-scene examination of the engine revealed no obvious discrepancies. The Hobbs meter displayed 717.4 hours at the accident site.
Flight tracking data from FlightAware indicated that the accident airplane had originally departed Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM), Montgomery, Alabama, at 0958 on April 25, en route to Horseshoe Bend Airport (6M2), Horseshoe Bend, Alabama, arriving at 1232. The flight time was 2 hours, 37 minutes. A fuel receipt showed 46.01 gallons purchased at 1238 on April 25, but it is not known if the airplane was fueled to capacity. The airplane then departed 6M2 at 1317 and flew to K38, arriving at 1519 after 2 hours, 2 minutes. There was no evidence of refueling at K38.
Engine Examination
Under the National Transportation Safety Board, the engine underwent a functional test at Teledyne Continental Motors in Mobile, Alabama, on July 16, 2014. Several external engine components were replaced to facilitate the test run. The engine performed satisfactorily at all power settings, and no anomalies were noted.
The JPI EDM 700 and JPI Fuel Scan 450 were removed from the airplane and sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Division for data download. The laboratory reported that the JPI EDM 700 had no internal EPROM chips and stored no data; the JPI Fuel Scan 450 also did not retain any data.