I just caught the tail end of a newscast about an Aerostar that crashed in Indiana due to a fillup with Jet-A. Any more details?
Happened over a month ago.... http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/10/piper-pa-60-602p-aerostar-n326cw-fatal_8.html
From the report: Jet fuel nozzles are shaped differently from nozzles for standard aviation fuel but the employee told investigators he was able to fill the Aerostar by positioning the nozzle at certain angles. The employee said he initially spilled about a gallon of fuel during refueling and “adjusted his technique so subsequent fuel spillage was minimal,” the report says. Very strange. Since when does a lineman continue with a fill in that situation? Even if the pilot says to, wouldn't you ask for a second opinion?
The lineman thought the aerostar looked like it was a turbine/jet, he couldnt hear the difference? but at startup said the engines sounded normal. What morons are they hiring. Sounds like the lineman filled up with Jet A, and is now covering his A by saying thats what the doctor ordered.
Years ago, airshow performer Jim Franklin's Aerostar crashed on a ferry flight heading back to its home base - Franklin was not flying it - I believe due to the same cause. Must be something about the shape of the aircraft that makes people think immediately that it's a turboprop.
They really work hard at idiot-proofing fuel with non-compatible nozzles, but some idiot always seems able to bypass the idiot-proofing.
Last year I went to my photo/printer shop near the railroad line in Edmonds. A train was passing and I mentioned that I coal train was going through. One of the ladies in the shop said, " How can you tell that it is a coal train?" I answered that I could see the coal in the coal cars. The lady paused for a minute and said, " Oh." A voice from the manager quietly, " You can't fix stupid."
One year at Abottsford Bob showed up with borrowed P-51 because at a fueling stop in the midwest he requested that his ox tanks be charged. The line man (boy) charged his 650psi system with a 1500psi charger and blew a big hole in the the tail of his airplane. I may have the numbers off but this is what I remember. Another year he told us about having engine trouble and had to make a landing on a country road in Canada. He landed on an incline so he let the airplane roll backwards and turned it into an intersecting road. A lady driving by complained to him for blocking her road and sure enough a bit later a constable wrote him a citation for improper parking.
I cant fathom how anyone can think a piston powered plane takes jet fuel. The exhaust stacks, the cooling fins from the front, and as others have said the fuel nozzle sizing. The only way such a thing might happen is the assumption that this was some diesel powered plane. Pretty sure there must be camera footage, If the doctor was really in the plane with a Jet A truck parked in front, then I can believe what the lineman is saying, otherwise its just retardia.
The door of his Aerostar popped open as he was taking off. He had problems with the door before. He stalled and crashed.
Maybe the single Aerostar Jet had just refueled there.... and he was confused. Not... Ted Smith intended the Aerostar to be a twin jet eventually. One was later constructed.
The diesel thing is certainly a newer wrinkle. The Cessna 400 series often had a problem with this, because the 425 (turboprop) looks very much like a 421 (piston). Back in my line service days, we used to fuel a 402 freighter which was converted from piston to turboprop. Hoover's Shrike could also be problematic because the Shrike (piston) looks pretty much like a Turbo Commander (turboprop).
What happened to the placards next to the fuel port, and sometimes on the nose of the fuselage" FUEL THIS AIRPLANE WITH 100LL." Or 115 OCT., etc. ? You don't look at the engines or props to determine what type of fuel to pump. I did a lot of this in the service and when I, too, was a line boy.
Oh I know... and the fuel nozzle that won't fit... but as you well know, if there is a way to screw things up, someone will find it.
I fueled planes at FBOs all through college. I knew airplanes well so never made a mistake like that. But man...... the crazy stuff I saw during that job over the years! I also have about 15 hours at the controls of a modded pressurized Aerostar with bigger turbo charged engines. Very fast and nice flying airplane.