A BEECH A90 IN CRUISE AT 9500 FT DECLARED AN EMER DUE TO FUEL STARVATION. BOTH ENGS FLAMED OUT PRIOR TO LNDG. CAUSED BY A FAILED L TANK TRANSFER PUMP.

Narrative

ON THE NIGHT OF APRIL/WED/03 AT APPROX XA:50 LOCAL TIME; ON A TRIP SEGMENT FROM ZZZ TO ZZZ1 ARPT ON A KING AIR MODEL A90 AN EMER WAS DECLARED TO ZZZ2 APCH CTL ON FREQ. THE REASON FOR THE INCIDENT WAS A DUAL ENG FLAMEOUT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION CAUSED BY FAILURE OF THE L FUEL TRANSFER PUMP DURING FLT. AT SOME POINT DURING THE FLT AND PAST OF THE POINT OF NO RETURN I NOTICED THAT THE L NACELLE TANK WAS NOT BEING REFILLED BY THE WING TANK; I TURNED THE L TRANSFER PUMP OFF AND THEN ON TO RESET THE SYSTEM; BUT WITH NO SUCCESS THE L NO TRANSFER LIGHT CAME ON INDICATING FAILURE OF THAT PUMP MEANING THAT FUEL WAS NOT BEING TRANSFERED TO THE NACELLE WITH ASSISTANCE OF A PUMP; BUT BY GRAVITY. AT THIS POINT I FELT UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS SIT AND THEN BEGAN TO STUDY THE SIT AND LOOK FOR OPTIONS. THE BEST SOLUTION FOR THIS PROB WAS TO FIND THE NEAREST SUITABLE ARPT AND LAND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. MY POSITION WAS JUST A FEW MILES S OF ZZZ3 ARPT; WHICH IS A GOOD ARPT; BUT DUE TO THE WX AT THAT TIME IN THE AREA IT WAS NOT THE BEST OPTION FOR ME TO TRY A LNDG. WX UNEXPECTEDLY GOT WORST AND I HAD TO DEVIATE S AND DSND FROM 15500 FT TO 9500 TO MAINTAIN VFR MINIMUMS. MY INTENTIONS WERE TO GET TO THE COAST WHERE EXCELLENT VFR CONDITIONS PREVAILED MANY OPTIONS FOR SUITABLE ARPTS EXISTED. DURING MY DEVIATION THE L NACELLE GOT EMPTY AND I HAD TO START A CROSSFEED PROC EVEN THOUGH I STILL HAD FUEL ON THE L WING TANKS. WHEN A CROSSFEED WAS APPLIED THE FUEL LOADS ON THE R SIDE OF THE FUEL SYS WERE THE NACELLE ALMOST FULL AND THE WING OVER 1/4 FULL. THE FUEL CONSUMPTION ON THE R NACELLE WAS SO HIGH THAT IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THE R TRANSFER PUMP COULD NOT KEEP UP WITH SUCH A HIGH DEMAND; SO THE R NACELLE STARTED TO RUN OUT OF FUEL WITH FUEL STILL ON THE R WING TANK. IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO KEEP BOTH ENGS RUNNING I REDUCED MY FUEL FLOW TO HELP THE TRANSFER PUMP GET FUEL TO THE NACELLE. BEING THE SIT I DID NOT DSND FROM 9500 FT AS PRECAUTION IN THE EVENT OF A FLAMEOUT AND TO HELP MINIMIZE THE FUEL FLOW INCREASE ENCOUNTERED AT LOWER ALTITUDES. AT ABOUT 5 MILES SW OF ZZZ1 BOTH ENGS FLAMED OUT AND I DECLARED AN EMER WITH APCH. THE CTLR GAVE ME AT LEAST THREE OPTIONS FOR LNDG AND I CHOSE ZZZ1 DUE TO MY ALT AND FAMILIARITY WITH THAT ARPT. I FLEW OVER ZZZ1 AT ABOUT 6000 FT AND ENTERED A L DOWNWIND LEG TO RWY 5; AN APCH AND LNDG WAS MADE WITH NO OTHER DIFFICULTIES. AFTER LNDG I CONTACTED THE TWR OVER THE RADIO AND REQUESTED NO OTHER ASSISTANCE; BUT A TOW TO CLR THE AIRPLANE OUT OF THE RWY. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IN MANY WAYS; BUT I AM SURE OF ONE THING AND IT IS THAT THE SYSTEM IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH THE PROPER INSTRUMENTATION TO INDICATE THE PLT OF A CONTINUOUS FLOW OR RATE OF FUEL TRANSFER; FOR EXAMPLE A FLOW METER INDICATOR OR A PRESSURE INDICATOR; TO DETECT POSSIBLE MALFUNCTIONS IN THE SYSTEM; INSTEAD IT ONLY HAS A LIGHT THAT WILL INFORM WHEN THE SYSTEM IS ALREADY INOP. IN ADDITION TO AND AFTER STUDYING THE SIT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ADVISABLE TO SHUTDOWN ONE ENG AND PROCEED ON A SINGLE ENG CONFIGURATION TO A SUITABLE ARPT WHERE A PRECAUTIONARY LNDG COULD BE MADE TO PREVENT RUNNING OUT OF FUEL. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED BOTH ENGS FLAMED OUT FROM FUEL STARVATION AND AFTER LNDG THE TANKS WERE STUCK AND THE FINDINGS WERE THE L TANK HAD 30 GALLONS AND THE R TANK HAD 15 GALLONS OF UNUSABLE FUEL. THE RPTR SAID THE ONLY INDICATION OF THE TRANSFER PUMP FAILING WAS A NO TRANSFER LIGHT INDICATING NO TRANSFER OF FUEL TO THE NACELLE TANK. THE RPTR STATED THIS AIRPLANE HAS NO ENG FUEL FLOW INDICATIONS OR FUEL PRESSURE INDICATORS AND NEEDS A SYSTEM TO DETECT FUEL FLOW PROBS. THE RPTR SAID IT IS A KNOWN FACT BY ANYONE FLYING A BEECH A90 THE UNUSABLE FUEL IN A WING TANK WITH FAILURE OF THE TRANSFER PUMP IS MUCH GREATER THAN THE MANUFACTURERS SPECIFICATIONS.