Simviation Forums

Shame that it's another now destined to stay earthbound forever....

Charlie

Is this the one that ditched some time ago or am I getting confused again?

On March 28, 2002 Clipper Flying Cloud was ditched in Elliot Bay near Seattle. The ditching was largely the result of inattention to the fuel gauges and poor assumptions about how long the Stratoliner could remain airborne with the amont of fuel on board. It appears that "dipping", the method used to determine the amount of fuel aboard, was not sufficiently precise.  The pilot began the flight under the impression that they had two hours of fuel aboard. The unique antique airliner ran out of gas after about 45 minutes. They had already made a full-stop landing at Paine.  They could have refueled at that time, but they expected to refuel after performing some touch-and-go landings.  The number three engine suffered an overspeed on the first take-off from Paine, so the crew elected to return to Boeing field rather than land immediately at Paine Field. The landing at Boeing was delayed by problems extending the main landing gear. The fuel gauges were indicating correctly, but the attention of the crew members was diverted while the landing gear was being hand-cranked down. The Stratoliner's engines died of fuel starvation, so its pilot was forced to ditch the airplane in Elliot Bay, near Salty's Restaurant. The four-man crew suffered only minor injuries.