Fairchild Funk M62C F 23A N1131Z

Summary

On 23 March 2018 at about 21:10 local time, a Fairchild Funk M62C F 23A registered N1131Z, operated by Texas Air Museum, was involved in an accident near Columbia, Tennessee, United States. One person was 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

23 March 2018 at 21:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.6133, -86.9850

Aircraft

Fairchild Funk M62C F 23A

Registration

N1131Z

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

Texas Air Museum

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Smyrna → Slaton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA113

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadvertent selection of the fuel selector handle to the off position, which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that he departed for the cross-country flight with a full load of fuel. During cruise flight, he attempted to balance the fuel load by turning the fuel selector from the left tank to the right tank; shortly thereafter, the engine lost total power. The pilot attempted to troubleshoot the problem and restart the engine but was unsuccessful. The pilot performed a forced landing to a soft field; during the landing, the airplane settled into the mud, which resulted in separation of the landing gear and substantial damage to the wing spar. Postaccident examination revealed that the left fuel tank was ruptured and contained no fuel, while the right fuel tank contained about 16 gallons of fuel. Additional examination of the fuel system did not reveal any evidence of preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. During a postaccident interview, the pilot stated that he routinely flew an airplane of a similar model with a different fuel selector configuration than the accident airplane. The pilot stated that when changing fuel tanks, he may have inadvertently positioned the fuel selector to an incorrect position. Because the engine failure occurred immediately after the pilot changed the fuel selector position, it is likely that the pilot inadvertently turned the fuel selector to the off position, which starved the engine of fuel and resulted in the total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.