Accident Overview
On October 27, 2021, at 1750 eastern daylight time, a Beech BE-23 airplane, registration N2353Z, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing near Ballston Spa, New York. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The aircraft was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.
Flight History
The student pilot checked fuel levels during preflight inspection using a ruler, measuring 1 inch in the right tank and 3 inches in the left tank. Based on calculations derived from the 3-day multi-leg flight from Texas after purchasing the airplane, the student believed each inch represented 1 hour and 15 minutes of flying, equating to 5 hours of available fuel. The flight departed Saratoga County Airport (5B2) in Saratoga Springs, Florida, around 1530. The pilots flew in the practice area and around a nearby lake before returning to 5B2 for eight touch-and-go landings.
Engine Failure and Forced Landing
Approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes into the flight, while turning to final approach for the ninth landing, the engine sputtered and stopped producing power; the propeller continued to windmill. The instructor took control, established best glide speed, and performed quick checks of mixture, carburetor heat, ignition, and master switches but could not restore power. Selecting a forced landing area, the instructor observed power lines in the path and pitched up to avoid them, hearing the stall horn. The airplane cleared the power lines, landed hard, fracturing the nose landing gear, then nosed over and slid to a stop.
Post-Accident Examination
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage. The airplane came to rest upright in a nose-down attitude, with substantial damage to the right wing where the right main landing gear pushed upward. No fuel was evident in the left-wing tank, and the right-wing tank was about one-eighth full. When the master switch was turned on, the left fuel gauge indicated empty (“E”) and the right gauge just above “E.” Both fuel caps were secure, vents unobstructed, and no fuel was present in the left tank; about 1 inch of fuel was found in the right tank. All fuel lines from tanks to the selector, gascolator, fuel pumps, and carburetor were intact and devoid of fuel; the gascolator bowl and electric fuel pump contained no fuel. No other preimpact anomalies or malfunctions were identified.
Fuel Management and Planning
The student reported that the airplane’s tanks held a total of 60 gallons, but a cockpit placard specified 26 gallons per tank. The pilot’s operating handbook stated, “do not take off when the Fuel Quantity Gages indicate in the yellow band or with less than 11 gallons in each main tank.” The flight instructor stated that fuel was used solely from the left tank without switching during the flight, and the mixture was leaned during cruise. In follow-up interviews, the student indicated that fuel consumption calculations were based on leaning the mixture and having a tailwind on the return trip from Texas. Both pilots noted that the fuel measured 9 inches when full. When asked about fuel planning for the accident flight, the instructor responded, “Neither of us did and that's the problem.”