The findings won’t be official for some time—but it seems clear that after two decades without a fatal misfueling accident, we’ve just seen two within a year. On February 22, 2015, a Canadian-registered Piper PA-46-350P crashed just after takeoff from Felts Field Airport in Spokane, Washington. Investigators quickly determined that it had been “serviced” with 52 gallons of jet fuel. The solo pilot was the only victim. And on August 27, 2014, four died when a Cessna 421C air ambulance ran out of altitude while trying to turn back to the airport at Las Cruces, New Mexico: the pilot, a nurse, a paramedic, and the cancer patient they were trying to transport.
It’s not known whether the Malibu pilot filled the tanks (Felts has self-serve for both jet fuel and avgas) or had it done by the line crew. However, the preliminary report on the twin Cessna accident states that the pilot stayed in the cockpit while a lineman put 20 gallons of Jet-A into each main tank, then helped him secure the fuel caps, and walked into the office to sign the sales ticket. Apparently he never noticed the lettering on the truck, the smell of the stuff dispensed, or the receipt’s description of goods sold.
Both these models are particularly vulnerable to misfueling—the Malibu because it’s built in both piston and turbine versions, and the Cessna because of its resemblance to the Conquest series of turboprops. The last previous misfueling accident (in 2009) and the most recent fatal example (in 1994) both involved 421Cs. “Fishtail” jet fuel nozzles that won’t fit into 100LL filler ports haven’t completely solved the problem, and the Las Cruces accident shows that the first-line defense of keeping an eye on the line crew only works if you pay attention to what you see.
There’s a good case to be made for sampling the fuel every time any is added, even when there’s no question of water contamination. Pumping from the wrong truck is only one of the ways jet fuel can get into a piston engine. A delivery driver could replenish the wrong tank at the fuel farm, or the FBO could goof while restocking its truck. Mistakes can even be made at the refinery. All these have actually happened. Granted, the chances that any will happen to you are slim—but the severity of the consequences might be enough to justify spending that extra couple of minutes.
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