Accident Details
On October 30, 2017, at about 1150 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 140 (registration N72339) was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Port Townsend, Washington. The pilot, who had purchased the airplane two days prior, sustained minor injuries. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Sequence of Events
The pilot reported that during the preflight inspection, he performed a walk-around per the owner's manual. The airplane had about 12 gallons of fuel on board: 7 gallons in the left tank and 5 gallons in the right tank. The total fuel capacity was 22 gallons (12.5 gallons per tank). The pilot stated that the fuel selector was positioned to the right tank for takeoff and throughout circuits in the traffic pattern while practicing touch-and-go landings.
On the third landing, after touchdown and before starting the fourth takeoff roll, the pilot opined that the carburetor heat was pushed to the OFF position. He then retracted the flaps, applied full power, and began a best-rate-of-climb (Vy). About 300 feet above ground level, the engine suddenly stopped developing power. With little time to restore power, the pilot pitched the nose down slightly, switched the fuel selector to the left tank, then back to the right tank, but could not restart the engine. He executed a forced landing; during the landing, the airplane impacted a stand of trees and came to rest on its left side. The left wing and fuselage were substantially damaged.
Postaccident Findings
Before wreckage recovery, it was determined that the left fuel tank had been breached during the accident sequence and contained no fuel. About 1.5 gallons of aviation fuel was recovered from the unbreached right fuel tank. The airplane's Operation Manual, under Section 1 – Operating Check List, states: "Set fuel tank selector to fullest tank. (Do not take off on less than ¼ tank.)" One-quarter tank equates to 3.125 gallons of fuel. The manual does not specify an unusable fuel amount.
Postaccident examination of the engine and airframe revealed no evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.