Synopsis
On 24 August 2003, at 1350 hours UTC, a Cessna U206F Stationair, registration G-STAT, experienced an engine failure while returning to Strathallan Airfield, Perthshire, after a parachute-dropping flight. The aircraft was about 800 feet above ground when the engine ceased operating.
Incident Details
The aircraft had completed two flights that day, both using the right fuel tank exclusively. The pilot, the sole occupant, switched the fuel selector to the left tank and attempted to restart the engine unsuccessfully. He transmitted a radio call to the airfield and executed a forced landing into a field. During the approach, the airspeed decayed, and the aircraft may have stalled before landing heavily at the far end of a field, coming to rest against a fence in a large ditch. The flaps were retracted. The pilot suffered minor injuries and briefly trapped by the instrument panel but freed himself and exited through the right door. No fire occurred.
Investigation Findings
Examination of the fuel tanks revealed 30 gallons in the left tank and none in the right. After adding 40 litres of fuel to the right tank, fuel flow checks from both tanks were normal. The pilot had refuelled before the flights, estimating 60 gallons total with an endurance of three to three and a half hours. The aircraft had large-capacity long-range fuel tanks with gauges that indicated proportions between full and empty, showing approximately three-quarters full before the first flight. The pilot reported that the gauges fluctuated at low fuel states. His normal practice was to change fuel feed selection once per flight, but on this occasion he did not, attributing it to insufficient airmanship checks. He had been monitoring high oil temperature and reduced climb performance due to warm weather and five parachutists.
Outcome
The pilot concluded that the engine would not have stopped if he had changed the fuel tank selection on each flight. The pilot did not operate the electric fuel booster pump when switching from the dry right tank, as advised by a placard, which probably prevented engine restart. Subsequent training was provided to the pilot, and the operator revised procedures to require fuel tank changes during climb and descent on each parachute-dropping flight.