Pushing the limits of a Seneca?

[Phil Space]

If there is one thing I have never understood in my 26 years of flying it is pilots running out of fuel.

Reading the accident report below I would have thought 5 people (plus bags?) are pushing it in a Seneca that stayed aloft for 4 hours 42 minutes. They were an hour over their planned time en-route and there were two pilots in the front for a for a journey of 560 miles. I doubt you can top the tanks and have five up in a Seneca.Or have I missed something:hmm:

From the Eastern Daily Press
Ex-MEP's plane ran out of fuel - report

A report into the plane crash which killed former Norfolk MEP Paul Howell and five others has blamed the pilot and suggests fuel shortage caused the incident.

The colourful socialite was killed in September last year when the Piper Seneca aircraft being flown by his friend Johan Wessels crashed into a beach at Beira in Mozambique during a business trip.

A preliminary report into the incident by Mozambique's civil aviation authority, the IACM, concludes that the pilot was not rated to fly that type of aircraft, that he lacked skills to manage an emergency, made miscalculations which resulted in fuel shortage and that Durban airport staff had approved a flight plan with incorrect information on it.

But Mr Howell's widow, Ayesha, yesterday said it did not fully explain what had happened and called for pressure to be put on South African authorities to do more to find out the facts over a fatal air crash.

A separate investigation by lawyers representing Mr Howell's business partner, Howard Holley, has also seen claims and counter claims the plane was taken without permission from lease firm Majestic Air.

According to the ICAM report, the plane had flown 110 hours over a scheduled inspection. But further details about the state of the aircraft, including its engines, which were reported to have failed, are unclear.

Mrs Howell, who lives at the family home in Wendling, near Dereham, with 14-month-old Zack, said: "I know how he died but I want to know the cause. I want them all to get all the facts and for British authorities to put pressure on South Africa to find out what happened.

"I want Majestic Air and the owners of the aircraft to be held accountable and release any documentation

they have that would help the investigation, which they are not doing."

She said they had flown many times with Mr Wessels and that he was "extremely careful", "would always follow safety and procedure" and was "meticulous".

The IACM report said Mr Wessels held a commercial license with more than 500 flight hours. It said the plane took off at 10.15am from Durban, with a planned flight to last three-and a half hours.

But at 2.52pm local time, the pilot declared an emergency, saying both engines had failed and the plane was going down, after flying more than an hour over that time.

It was the last communication with the plane. No other problem with the aircraft or fuel starvation was reported. Eye witnesses reported hearing engine failure and said there was no fuel spillage at the site.

Two pilots had been declared as flying on the plane, but the IACM states only one was on board, despite Mr Howell still having a licence.

[stiknruda]

I have made that same trip, Virginia to Beira several times in a Seneca I and more often in a Cheiftan. I always stopped for fuel at Maputo (LM) or Inhambane. I can't remember exactly the fuel burn at altitude but full to tanks dry in a PA34-200 of 5 hours does seem to ring a bell.

I worked in aviation for 4 years in Moz and am still sceptical when reading IACM reports - with the best will in the world they do tend to be fixated on admin issues rather than engineering/operational matters.

It is not impossible that neither Maputo nor Inhambane had Avgas, despite notification to the contrary. Occasionally there would be drum stock at Vilanculos but this tended to be pre-positioned by local operators. I can certainly imagine the scenario of an intended landing at Maputo to be told on initial contact that the airport was closed or that there was no Avgas available - press on to Inhambane and be told the same. You are then snookered!

The local governor could close the airport on a whim, he could also direct that no more Avgas be sold. This info would not be NOTAM'd therefore not available in Durban (it is unlikely that other airfields in Moz, would know this either!) It is certainly info that could be overlooked by IACM.

The country suffered from thirty (30) years of civil war that effectively destroyed all of the infrastructure.

I have met Mr Howell, here in Norfolk a couple of times - a very interesting and entertaining chap. Whatever the outcome it is another tragedy in Mozambique, a country that has seen more thanits fair share.

[Phil Space]

I can certainly imagine the scenario of an intended landing at Maputo to be told on initial contact that the airport was closed or that there was no Avgas available - press on to Inhambane and be told the same. You are then snookered!
No you are not! It is better to be on the ground with the problem than press on in the hope you make it.What is wrong with slipping a few dollars to someone on the ground and popping some mogas in the tanks from a local filling station?
I'd rather be flying on mogas than fumes.

[stiknruda]

I purposely used the term snookered, rather than fuc&ed because it is always possible by clever play to overcome the situation.

Given that the above scenario is a posible hypothesis and not actuality, pray tell me where you are going to land when the airport is closed in a city that can hide donkeys in the pot holes in the road? Mogas - another commodity that very often is not there, either.

A friend of mine (female Irish doctor working for an NGO) was shot when she inadvertently turned into a street with restricted access in the capital. The bullet mangled her arm v badly - it was actually aimed to kill her. Her crime - turning into a street that temporarily closed, realising her mistake and reversing out!

The governor has announced that the airport is closed - you would have to be v brave to land there! I have seen the inside of two goals in Moz - thankfully on both occasions I went to identify and release employees, but I would have hated to be an inmate for anything more than a few minutes.

I guess what I was purporting to do was show that everything is not always exactly as reported by IACM!

[Pilot DAR]

Sometime I don't remind myself how lucky I am to fly with complete freedom, and dependable infrastructure, in Canada. I appreciated it again, thanks!

[IO540]

Very sad to read of fuel exhaustion accidents.

However, looking at how dramatically the degree of leaning affects fuel flow, and how inaccurate analog fuel flow gauges are (they really only measure fuel pressure) I cannot imagine doing long trips without an accurate fuel totaliser, and a means of precisely setting up the engine(s) for peak, LOP, etc.

There is about a 10% difference between 100F ROP and peak/LOP, which is a LOT. There is about a 30% difference between full-rich (which is how most "old trained" pilots fly) and peak/LOP which is a massive difference.

And with a plane that was so far out of maintenance it is pretty unlikely that the instrumentation (that was there) was much good, either.

[Phil Space]

It was a fairly long trip and I would have factored in a rest break en-route if at all possible. I have also flown in remote parts of the world on take on board previous comments. But the question remains what is it that pushes a pilot or pilots to continue when the guages and time en-route must have been a cause for concern. I would have opted to reduce the passenger load and carried some spare fuel down the back in jerry cans. It just seem to me that this is like playing Russian roulette:=

Here is another example closer to home.

(from the January AAIB bulletin.)
Gardan GY80-180 Horizon

Summary:
The aircraft had insufficient fuel in its main tanks for its planned flight. At 2,000 ft, approaching the intended destination, the fuel in the main tanks ran out and the engine stopped. The aircraft’s auxiliary tank contained approximately 20 minutes worth of fuel, but the pilot did not select the auxiliary tank. The pilot carried out a forced landing, but undershot his intended field and collided with a hedge. The aircraft then turned over onto its roof. The pilot and passengers were uninjured and vacated the aircraft normally.

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Gardan%20GY80-180%20Horizon,%20G-BYME%2001-09.pdf

[Pace]

10540

The new Seneca fives have a DDMP part of which is a very accurate fuel to end readout in time. It is very tempting to keep pulling back the mixtures to get the endurance you want :) Fuel flows normally come back to around 12 US gals per hour at a setting of 29 man 24 rpm and are fine tuned on the TIT gauges.

With 123 USG tanks they are good to fly for 5 hrs to dry tanks or 4 hr legs.
Legal carrying capacity is poor but is more to do with an engine out capability than what the aircraft can carry.

The actual fuel guages are notoriously unreliable. and I dont think I have flown one with good guages.

I can remember flying with a new Seneca five pilot who was not intrument rated at the time from Luton to Cannes. With headwinds the DDMP was showing 15 minutes fuel left at Cannes. The poor inexperienced pilot could not understand why I insisted we divert into Grenoble for fuel :) The DDMP is very accurate.

Pace

[vanHorck]

I have the JPI 760 with fuel flow on my Seneca IV, very accurate indeed. People spending money on a Seneca and not bothering to fit a fuel flow are stupid!

[stiknruda]

People spending money on a Seneca and not bothering to fit a fuel flow are stupid!

Rather a harsh statement - if it was such an obvious requirement why was it not factory-fitted?

Procuring things like a JPI in Africa (and I include RSA) is not as simple as phoning a local supplier. Factor in the exchange rate, importation duty and the local aviation authority and it is quite easy to see why it was not a "must-have".

I have flown across sub-Saharan Africa and up and down it. I've never run out of fuel but I can forsee situations that most could never perceive.

[Keygrip]

Guys, girls (and small furry creatures from alpha-centauri [Adams]),

It's a bit unfair to use technical acronyms and abbreviations to decorate your responses in a forum designed for private and, presumably, "student" pilots.

If you want them to understand how your superior intelligence and experience justifies your answer, then please give them a chance to learn from it and explain what you are talking about.

[vanHorck]

The fuel-flow meters on most pipers are not very reliable. In fact most people will prefer to calculate time x consumption rather than rely on the meter.

A JPI760 is an instrument from jpi.com which is able to analyze engine data thanks to probes (GAMI) on all cylinders. As a bonus you can also have it fitted with a very accurate fuel-flow meter, which ,assuming you have registered the correct fuel volume at the start of your flight allows you to keep very accurate track of your fuel remaining.

However the main benefit of the JPI is that it measures temperatures on all cylinders as opposed to one cylinder per engine which the default temp meter does. The probe for this one is generally fitted to the cylinder which on most engines is the hottest, however there can be variations and by using the JPI you can always see which cylinder runs the hottest.

[IO540]

I have the JPI 760 with fuel flow on my Seneca IV, very accurate indeed. People spending money on a Seneca and not bothering to fit a fuel flow are stupid!I agree 200%.

Rather a harsh statement - if it was such an obvious requirement why was it not factory-fitted?Because that is how aviation works, has always worked and hey we beat the Germans doing things this way (twice) so it must be good for you, young man!!

Why do GA spamcans almost universally have almost totally useless fuel gauges? Answer as above. TRADITION, young man. Tradition is good even if it kills people, because it is CERTIFIED!! (young man)

:)

A fuel totaliser is not completely dirt cheap - a few grand on a piston twin, especially on a non-N-reg. Also, the vast majority of GA pilots, even Seneca owners, rarely if ever go very far (usually citing bladder endurance as the limiting factor) so this is not an issue. And then somebody decides to push things a bit, and gets a big suprise.

Actually this kind of thing could happen closer to home than Africa. My most stressful day ever was when I got refused a landing in Italy (alleging lack of PPR but actually they could not be bothered to read faxes in English), then landed elsewhere in Italy where the *******s wouldn't sell me their avgas, but luckily I had enough to cross the Alps into Germany.

Admittedly one would (should) never get into a situation where one runs out because even a landing in Albania (no avgas at LATI, for sure) and having to get a BA flight to London while arranging for drums to be shipped there is better than running out.

I have never flown in Africa but if the landing options are going to get one shot then one better have enough fuel to never have to bet on availability in this way. Tricky! But avoidable IMHO. If flying in such a dodgy place, local knowledge is everything (actually local knowledge/language is dead handy in Italy too) and perhaps somebody tried to do something without it. The published airport data is flakey enough in Europe and I would expect it to be near-useless in Africa.

[172driver]

I would have opted to reduce the passenger load and carried some spare fuel down the back in jerry cans.

And would have fallen foul of pretty much any rule in the book. Carriage of dangerous goods, BIG, BIG no-no (even in Africa, trust me, I know) :=:=

What I don't quite get here (and I have flown in Africa) is why they didn't do an en-route refueling stop somewhere. There are plenty of airfields between Durban and Beira, certainly enough within RSA, to refuel.

Admittedly, the 100LL situation in Africa can be, shall we say, challenging, but usually a couple of phone calls sort the problem out. At the very least give you enough info to make an informed go/no-go decision. Having to adjust your route/plans for fuel stops is, in my experience, just par for the course.

On a very different note - am I the only one noticing how every accident pilot running out of fuel, flying into mountains, etc, is always described as being "extremely careful", "would always follow safety and procedure" and was "meticulous".


Not saying it can't/won't ever happen to me, but still.....