Piper PA-20 N7737K

Summary

On 4 June 2000 at about 18:30 local time, a Piper PA-20 registered N7737K was involved in an accident near Quinault, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 June 2000 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Quinault, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.4402, -123.7701

Aircraft

Piper PA-20

Registration

N7737K

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Angeles → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA098

Nobody was injured.

Fuel starvation due to the pilot's failure to position the fuel selector valve to the proper/correct position while switching fuel tanks. Factors include unreliable fuel selector valve position detents, having no suitable terrain in which to execute a forced landing, and a high rate of descent at the moment the aircraft touched down.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight, the pilot switched from an empty right tank, to a full left tank. Because the detents on the fuel selector valve were hard to feel, he inadvertently placed the selector in a position that would not allow enough fuel to flow to the engine to allow it to continue to produce power. When the engine quit, he attempted to reposition the valve to the right tank, but the engine did not restart. The pilot therefore tried once again to select the left tank, but was unable to place the selector in the correct position. He therefore once again tried the right tank, but was unsuccessful in getting fuel to the engine. Because there was no suitable place to attempt a landing, he elected to try to put the aircraft down between the stacks of logs in a commercial log-sorting yard. During his attempt to land in the confined space, the main gear hit the surface with enough force to cause one main gear leg to collapse. A post-accident inspection of the fuel selector determined that it functioned properly when in the correct position, but the alignment detents themselves were hard to discern.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.