Piper PA-31-350 N120JD

Summary

On 31 October 1996 at about 20:15 local time, a Piper PA-31-350 registered N120JD was involved in an incident near McComb, Mississippi, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 October 1996 at 20:15

Classification

Incident

Location

McComb, Mississippi, United States

Coordinates

31.2409, -90.4608

Aircraft

Piper PA-31-350

Registration

N120JD

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → New Orleans

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97IA016

Nobody was injured.

the lineman's fueling of the aircraft with the wrong type fuel, the pilot's failure to verify the type of fuel added to the aircraft before flight, and failure of the refueling facility to be equipped with the proper fuel nozzle.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot requested that the aircraft be fueled with 40 gallons of 100LL avgas. The lineman fueled the aircraft with 40 gallons of Jet-A fuel. This made the total fuel on board about 80 gallons (about a 50 percent to 50 percent mixture of avgas and Jet-A). The pilot signed the fuel receipt, which indicated Jet-A fuel, and then departed. The lineman did not observe the pilot perform a preflight inspection. Both engines lost power after takeoff, and a forced landing was made in a field. The aircraft was equipped with restricted fuel ports to prevent this type of misfueling; however, the fuel pump (from which N120JD was fueled) was not equipped with the respective large size nozzle that was designed to prevent the problem.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.