CESSNA T207A — Page, AZ

What happened

The airplane departed on an air tour scenic flight and after about 30 minutes, the engine lost power. Unable to restart the engine, the pilot ditched the airplane into a lake. Two of the five passengers onboard were unable to exit the airplane and the airplane sank to the bottom of the lake. The pilot had no recollection of the circumstances of the flight or his actions to restart the engine following the loss of power.

Postaccident examination of the airplane did not identify any mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have resulted in the loss of engine power. The airplane was underwater for weeks before it was recovered, therefore the amount of fuel present in each fuel tank could not be determined.

A photo taken just before the flight showed the left fuel tank quantity indicator was on full and the right tank indicator showed the tank contained less than 10 gallons of fuel. The company refueling procedure at that time was to refuel the left tank to 25 gallons and the right tank to 10 gallons. This procedure allows the pilots to use the left fuel tank only for the shorter scenic routes with quicker refueling after the flight.

The Engine Failure – Restart Checklist called for the pilot to turn the auxiliary fuel pump ON and change the fuel selector to the other tank if fuel is available. The fuel pump was found in the ON position and the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank when the airplane was recovered. Since the fuel pump was ON, it appears that the pilot initiated the engine restart procedures. It is unknown if the pilot switched fuel tanks during the restart procedure. Had the pilot flown the entire flight on the right fuel tank the fuel supply in that tank would have been exhausted about the time of the power loss.

Because of the pilot’s lack of recall of the accident circumstances and his actions during the flight, the investigation was unable to determine the position of the fuel selector when the loss of power occurred. Additionally, the submersion of the wreckage in water compromised the amount of fuel in the tanks, precluding the investigation from assessing the airplane’s fuel state and potentially other evidence of the engine failure.

The flaps were determined to have been in the retracted position. With limited time available because of the low altitude, the pilot likely continued to attempt an engine restart and did not run the ditching checklist, which stated to lower the flaps to 30° for a water landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airplane Flying Handbook states “that an airplane that is ditched at minimum speed and in normal landing attitude does not immediately sink upon touchdown.” With the flaps set to the retracted position, the airspeed would not have been as slow as possible when the airplane contacted the water, potentially lessening the impact forces and injuries to the occupants.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.