Convair 340 N358SA

Summary

On 5 January 1996 at about 02:53 local time, a Convair 340 registered N358SA was involved in an accident near Spokane, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 January 1996 at 02:53

Classification

Accident

Location

Spokane, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.6509, -117.4297

Aircraft

Convair 340

Registration

N358SA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Deer Valley → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA96FA039

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's improper management of the fuel/system, which resulted in loss of power in both engines, due to fuel starvation. Factors relating to the accident were: false indications of the cockpit fuel gauges, darkness, and the presence of a berm in the emergency landing area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before the ferry flight, the pilot (PIC) & inexperienced copilot noted the left & right, float-type, underwing, fuel gauges indicated about 3,900 & 4,050 lbs of fuel, respectively. After takeoff, they noted that the cockpit gauges showed an opposite fuel imbalance of 4,100 & 3,600 lbs in the left & right tanks. Due to this indication, the PIC crossfed fuel from the left tank to both engines for about 30 min to rectify the perceived fuel imbalance. Later as they approached the destination, the left tank was exhausted of fuel, & the left engine lost power, although the left gauge indicated about 500 lbs of fuel remaining in that tank. The PIC then crossfed fuel from the right tank to both engines, & left engine power was restored. ATC vectored the flight for an emergency ILS runway 3 approach. The PIC was distracted during the approach & maneuvered the airplane to re-intercept the localizer. About 500' agl in IMC, both engines lost power. During a forced landing at night, the airplane struck a raised berm & was damaged. No evidence of fuel was found in the left tank; 125 gal of fuel was found in the right tank. Unusable fuel was published as 3 gal. During an exam of the engines & fuel system components, no preimpact failure was found. Historical data from the manufacturer indicated that when the airplane had a low fuel state, unporting of fuel tank outlets could occur during certain maneuvers. This information was not in the Convair 340 flight manual, although unporting of the outlets on this flight was not verified.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.