N7110M

On September 7, 2000, about 1401 hours Pacific daylight time, a Beech A36TC, N7110M, was substantially damaged during a forced landing shortly after departure from Minden, Nevada. The commercial rated pilot was not injured. The personal flight was being operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight and no flight plan was filed. The originating flight was destined for South Lake Tahoe, California, 13 miles southwest.

The pilot stated to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that he was departing Minden after having an oil change. He was departing with about 10 gallons of fuel onboard, and the left tank was selected for departure. He stated that due to departing traffic he was distracted and inadvertently departed on the fuel tank with the lesser amount of fuel. He said he did not want to switch tanks during the climb and chose to wait for level flight. Subsequently, during the departure climb, the engine quit. He changed fuel tanks and turned the fuel boost pump on in an attempt to restart the engine.

During postaccident examination, 1 quart of fuel was drained from the left tank and 8 gallons were drained from the right tank. According to the Beech Aircraft Pilot Operator Handbook, "In no case should a takeoff be made if the fuel indicators are in the yellow band or, with less than 13 gallons of fuel in each main tank." Each main fuel tank has an unusable amount of fuel of 3 gallons.