Believe me, the fuel selectors on the Partenavia have proved to be deadly because they are well known for binding or completely jamming. A ditching in the English Channel revealed the female pilot was unable to physically select the crossfeed position after getting close to min fuel and she was forced to ditch.
At Essendon many years ago, I inspected three local Partenavias for fuel system operation and in all cases it was almost impossible to operate the selectors with one hand. The operator blew his top when I wrote up the defect saying no one had complained about it before. Knowing the GA scene I wasn't surprised. CASA were notified, visited the aeroplane and promptly grounded it. Soon after I sent CASA a copy of a British CAA AD that required a full check of the fuel valve operation after the ditching episode. CASA then issued their own AD which among other checks required pilot reporting of binding cockpit fuel selectors. Well, that wasn't going to happen, was it - but at least CASA alerted LAME's aalthough few pilots knew about it which is where the system breaks down if pilots are not made aware of an AD defect problem.
Six months after that, two of the Essendon Partenavias still had impossibly stiff operation of fuel valve selectors - so much for pilot integrity in writing up defects and leaving that responsibility for the next chap to cop it.
A Partenavia from Essendon landed at Phillip Island and buggered the nose wheel in soft ground. On return to EN it was in the hangar for several months. Massive corrosion was evident in the airframe and electrical wiring was found to be stuffed. The rubber protection on the leading edge of the stabiliser had significant ridges which would have disrupted airflow patterns according to the maintenance people. It was found that both engine fuel selectors were totally and permanently jammed where the linkages go into the engines and that if an engine had caught fire it would have been impossible to turn off the fuel. That aircraft was in the hangar for six months getting prettied up for the next owner.
Several years ago, a brand new turbo-charged Partenavia was on static display at the Avalon Air Show. I asked the display pilot if he could operate the fuel selectors. He had a go with some difficulty so the long term design defect still was there. If anyone reading this thread flies Partenavias take my advice and see if you can operate the individual engine fuel selectors easily in all directions with one hand operation. If the selectors are hard to operate then for the sake of the next pilot to fly that aircraft, write it in the maintenance release.
