A GRUMMAN AAI ON APCH AT 1100 FT DECLARED AN EMER DUE TO ENG FUEL STARVATION PLT THEN SWITCHED TANKS AND RESTARTED ENG; LNDG UNEVENTFULLY.

Date: 1998-11 · Aircraft: Yankee AA1

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-unspecified

Synopsis

A GRUMMAN AAI ON APCH AT 1100 FT DECLARED AN EMER DUE TO ENG FUEL STARVATION PLT THEN SWITCHED TANKS AND RESTARTED ENG; LNDG UNEVENTFULLY.

Narrative

ON FINAL APCH; 2 1/2 MI OUT; LNDG ON RWY 25; MY ENG SUDDENLY QUIT. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS CARB ICE. I IMMEDIATELY PUT ON CARB HEAT -- NO CHANGE. AT THAT MOMENT I THOUGHT SURE I HAD FUEL IN THE L TANK. IN THE LITTLE GRUMMAN 2 SEAT; YOUR ONLY WAY TO TELL IF YOU HAVE ANY FUEL AND ROUGHLY HOW MUCH; IS THE L AND R SIGHT GAUGES HAVE A RED BALL THAT GOES UP TO THE TOP WHEN FUEL IS ADDED; THE BALL MOVES UP. I COULD NOT SEE FOR SURE BEFORE I LEFT HOW MUCH FUEL I HAD; THE SUN WAS INTERFERING WITH A GOOD READING. THE R TANK HAD 1/4 TANK; THIS I COULD SEE. I WAS ONLY GOING 5 MI FROM THE GRASS AIR STRIP TO TOL ARPT FOR A DISCUSSION WITH THEIR HEAD OF MAINT AT THIS FBO. TOL APCH VECTORED ME AROUND FOR 5 MINS; SO WHEN THE ENG QUIT; I DIDN'T THINK I WAS OUT OF FUEL. HOWEVER; I DID CALL THE TWR AND TOLD THEM IT HAD QUIT; AND WOULD HAVE TO PUT IT IN A FIELD -- I COULDN'T MAKE THE RWY. THEN I REALIZED THAT I DIDN'T SWITCH TANKS; I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT IN MY LNDG CHKLIST. AS SOON AS I CHANGED TANKS; THE ENG STARTED AT ONCE AND I MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG. I CALLED THE TWR AS SOON AS THE ENG STARTED AND TOLD THEM I WOULD MAKE A NORMAL LNDG; EVERYTHING WAS FINE. BUT THEY BROUGHT OUT THE FIRE TRUCKS ANYWAY; AND THE ARPT FIRE DEPT FOLLOWED ME OVER TO THE FBO AND THEY ASKED FOR MY LICENSE NUMBER; PHYSICAL DATE; RATINGS; ETC.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.