AAIB investigation to Spitfire IXT, G-LFIX, 6 May 2024
Engine power loss due to fuel starvation resulting in forced landing, Pitsford Airfield, near Sywell, Northants, 6 May 2024
The engine cut out due to fuel starvation shortly after the pilot had transferred fuel supply from the wing tanks to the fuselage tank in preparation for landing. This resulted in a forced landing at Pitsford Airfield, a private grass airstrip, to the west of Sywell. During the landing the aircraft pitched onto its nose, damaging the propeller and left wing.
On a previous flight the pilot had inadvertently left the engine being supplied from the fuselage tank for the whole flight, rather than changing to the wing tanks once airborne, unknowingly reducing the fuel level in that tank.
As a result of the event the operator has implemented changes to the operating procedures to minimise the possibility of a reoccurrence.
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