Could this accident have been prevented?

[abrutus]

With a thorough pre-flight? or is there really no way one could known what happened?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1296292040448818

 

[alaskadrifter]

I always smell the gas after I sump it, maybe he could have caught it that way. I don't know how long jet fuel takes to settle out though.

 

[gotWXdagain]

Garretts don't like Avgas?

 

[Nark]

I always smell the gas after I sump it, maybe he could have caught it that way. I don't know how long jet fuel takes to settle out though.

Our rule of thumb in the UH60: 1 hour per foot. The tank is 4' deep, therefore 4 hours before we take a fuel sample.

 

[milleR]

Garretts don't like Avgas?

Garretts will burn anything. In this case it was Continentals that don't like Jet A.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb....ev_id=20150417X20434&ntsbno=CEN15LA199&akey=1

In terms of being preventable, this is probably the most relevant part of the report:

A review of the records revealed a credit card receipt signed by the pilot. The printed receipt showed 53 gallons of Jet A with FGII additive. The FBO's invoice had Jet A and Avgas preprinted on the form; the details of the sale were annotated on the invoice, including a circling around "Jet A".

 

[z987k]

Avgas and Jet A are different colors, though there's a good chance the blue dye in the 100LL would dye the JetA blue as well. They smell a lot different, and if you get them on your hands you know immediately which one is which.
In the video he states that he had them top off the tip tanks. If the wing tanks still had avgas in them, he probably could have just switched tanks. When an engine quits, it's almost always fuel.

 

[Roger Roger]

Avgas and Jet A are different colors, though there's a good chance the blue dye in the 100LL would dye the JetA blue as well. They smell a lot different, and if you get them on your hands you know immediately which one is which.
In the video he states that he had them top off the tip tanks. If the wing tanks still had avgas in them, he probably could have just switched tanks. When an engine quits, it's almost always fuel.

Depends on the fuel system, some of the twin Cessnas IIRC only burn out of the tips and all the wings do is transfer into the tips.

 

[z987k]

Depends on the fuel system, some of the twin Cessnas IIRC only burn out of the tips and all the wings do is transfer into the tips.

Ya, I'm entirely not familiar with the 421s fuel system.

 

[milleR]

Depends on the fuel system, some of the twin Cessnas IIRC only burn out of the tips and all the wings do is transfer into the tips.

IIRC on the A's and B's the mains (tips) and aux (wing) tanks feed directly to the engines. Nacelle aux tanks feed to the mains (tips) then to the engines. All return fuel goes to the mains (tips) which is why you burn out of them first before switching to aux.

 

[Drew88]

In the photos of the actual aircraft in the grass, the props don't seem to be feathered? Might just be the angle...

 

[deadstick]

Well, looks like it ended better than the air ambo 421 that crashed n burned last year. Got a load of JetA, too. Even with the restricter and the squashed nozzle, this still happens.