ALERT ANOTHER Aircraft Misfueling We Need to Prevent This from Happening Again O n May 28th, 2020, the pilot and three pas- sengers on board an Aero Commander 500S airplane, owned by the State of Alaska and operated by the Division of Forestry, were injured when the airplane crashed shortly after take-off. According to the NTSB’s Preliminary Report “A post- accident examination revealed that the reciprocating engine airplane had been inadvertently serviced with Jet A fuel.” Tragically, this is a pattern that we con- tinue to see. On October 5th of 2019, a pilot was killed when his Piper Aerostar crashed after departure. The reciprocat- ing engine aircraft had been mistakenly refueled with Jet-A instead of Avgas100LL. On April 17th, 2015, the pilot and two passengers of a Cessna 421B were injured when the aircraft crashed after departure. The reciprocating engine aircraft had been mistakenly refueled with Jet-A instead of Avgas100LL. On February 22nd, 2015, the pilot of a Canadian registered Piper PA-46 was killed when the aircraft crashed after departure. The reciprocating engine air- craft had been mistakenly refueled with Jet-A instead of Avgas100LL. On August 27th, 2014, the pilot and three passengers on board a Cessna 421C were all killed when the air- craft crashed after departure. The reciprocating engine aircraft had been mistakenly refueled with Jet-A instead of Avgas100LL. On January 30th, 2009, the pilot and two passen- gers of a Cessna 421C were injured when the aircraft crashed after departure. The reciprocating engine air- craft had been mistakenly refueled with Jet-A instead of Avgas100LL. 70 We need to prevent this happening again. All of these events are tragic, not only because of the loss of life, and serious injuries involved but also because each one was preventable. There is a shared responsibility between Pilots and FBO staff to properly communicate fuel orders EVERY TIME. NATA implores all pilots and FBO staff to take advantage of our free Misfueling Prevention Program at www.PreventMisfueling.com. The pro- gram includes online training with individual learning tracks designed specifically for Pilots, Line Service Specialists, CSRs, and FBO Managers. It also includes our Misfueling Prevention Operational Best Practices 35a-35c which cover the policies and procedures required for fuel orders, over-wing fueling nozzles, and grade verification along with other industry resources dedicated to misfueling prevention. The training and information at www.PreventMisfueling.com are all FREE and openly available to everyone. Please take the time to edu- cate yourself, colleagues, customers, and anyone else who has a stake in the refueling of aircraft by visit- ing www.PreventMisfueling.com. Together, we can PREVENT MISFUELINGS. For more information contact NATA at [email protected] or visit www.PreventMisfueling.com Aviation Business Journal | Summer 2020
