This is in relation to single engine aircraft with a boost pump installed. In this accident, the pilot was giving sightseeing rides on a C185 floatplane. The C185 has a fuel injected engine. Because of the increased difficulty of fueling a floatplane, the pilot was trying to maximize fuel use from the fuel tank that was on the docking side of the aircraft. He did this by taking off with the fuel selector on both and then selecting left tank in cruise. It appears that the guages were not accurate as is typical in the Cessna's and he was using a dipstick intermittently(ie. prior to the previous flight but not prior to the accident flight).
An assumption was made as to the amount of fuel in each tank prior to departing on the accident flight which turned out to be inaccurate as the engine lost power while flying at 1000 agl with the left tank selected. While attempting to maneuver for landing, he also attempted to restart the engine, but it turned out that a critical item was missed. While the fuel selector was returned to the Both position, if he had just turned on the boost pump, the engine would likely have started quickly, instead of not starting.
One problem was that the emergency checklist does not mention to turn the boost pump on. There is an explanation for this on page 20 of the report, which really does not make sense to me. Instead, Cessna only mentions the importance of this in a separate section of the manual. To be honest, I think the TSB should list that as one of the causes of the accident. Post accident flight tests on another C185 doing fuel starvation tests showed an almost immediate restarting of the engine when the boost pump was turned on as it overcomes the air trapped in the mechanical pump.
It also shows how important information can be hidden in the POH.
There are aircraft like the Cessna 172RG with a boost pump that really is only for emergency situations. It could be more critical than you think.
https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-repo ... q0136.html
This is a Cessna A185F Manual(may be a different year/setup than for the accident aircraft)....
https://www.mennen.org/airplanes/Logs46 ... Manual.pdf
The Importance of the Boost Pump
Moderators: lilfssister, North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako
Re: The Importance of the Boost Pump
The boost pump was in every engine start checklist of those Cessnas we had that had one.
Re: The Importance of the Boost Pump
Was there a wind speed and direction check in that engine start checklist?
Re: The Importance of the Boost Pump
The focus is the thrust issue. Yes by all means put the boost reminder in the emergency checklist!
