Today the pilot is helping his ailing friend by flying him
to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The pilot levels out his Cessna 206 at 10,000 feet MSL, above the cloud deck.
There's been a steady 40 knot head wind right on the nose side taking-off from Alma, Michigan.
But the topped-off Cessna has plenty of fuel
and the passengers in the cabin seem content.
In the cockpit with the pilot is another longtime friend,
also a pilot, helping with light cockpit chores.
Both pilot's instrument scan show all indications are normal as the flight progresses across Lake Michigan.
Neither can anticipate what is about to happen.
As if provoked, right at the midpoint of the lake, the engine misfires.
Both pilots jump to attention as the fuel flow drops rapidly and the engine loses power.
There's not much time to lose.
In a split second decision, the pilot alerts Minneapolis Center
and turns the airplane around
trading head wind for tail wind
and hoping they'll be able to make the Michigan shore.
According to the airplane manual,
a glide from 10,000 feet equals 15 miles.
Not enough distance to make the shoreline that lies some 20 miles ahead.
The pilot switches tanks and adjusts the mixture to try to restore power.
Then the engine fails completely.
As the aircraft descends, the pilots desperately troubleshoot the problem.
But nothing works.
In the cabin, the patient, his wife, and their physician,
don and inflate their life vests, bracing for impact with the water.
Dreadful minutes pass as the airplane closes-in
on the shore and descends below the clouds.
The pilots, who have now also put on their life vests, see land a few miles away.
Realizing they have only moments until impact,
the pilot quickly instructs his passengers
to unlatch the front portion of the rear cargo door
while he unlatches the door to his left.
Within the next 60 seconds, the aircraft impacts the lake.
The Cessna pitches forward, flips over, and fills with water.
Only the pilot survives.
What can we learn from this tragedy?
To the naked eye,
there was no apparent reason to believe that the flight would be in danger.
The pilot and his friend
had flown volunteer patient transport for many years.
The pilot's thoughtful preflight included proper fuel planning
and went well beyond the regulations
when he ensured life jackets for everyone onboard.
Not a requirement for a part 91 flight not operated for hire.
Yet a good idea
when crossing a large body of water.
However there was one critical thing
that had escaped the pilot's attention.
During the accident investigation, the NTSB
found that the firewall fuel strainer gasket
did not provide a complete seal between the fuel screen
and the fuel strainer's upper body.
allowing debris in the fuel to migrate to the engine's fuel inlet filter screen
in the fuel metering assembly.
Further inspection revealed the fuel inlet filter screen was
partially obstructed with debris.
The same debris that obstructed the fuel flow
through the opening to the fuel screen.
The investigation also turned-up that during the airplane's annual inspection,
several tach hours prior to the accident,
the mechanic did not inspect the firewall fuel strainer gasket
nor did he remove
and inspect the fuel inlet filter screen
as required by the manufacturer's service manual.
In the end, the engine was starved of fuel
because of the debris blockage.
Should the pilot have known about the inadequate maintenance?
Do you bother to check all maintenance information before every flight?
Perhaps one lesson learned from this is to
not only know the inspections your airplane requires,
but to also confirm with the mechanic performing the inspections
that the proper procedures were followed
by the book.