Accident to the Waco YMF5 registered F-GYMF on 06/08/2021 at Yvoy-le-Marron
Arrêt du moteur en croisière, atterrissage forcé, collision avec des arbres puis le sol
The pilot was on a ferry flight from the aerodrome where the annual maintenance of the aircraft had been performed. During this inspection, in order to work on the right tank, the left-hand fuel tank selector had been closed.
The pilot performed the actions and check-lists during the preparation and during the flight from memory and did not sufficiently check the position of the left tank valve.
In flight, the engine shut down due to fuel exhaustion linked to fuel depletion in the right tank, while the left tank was full.
The pilot performed the actions to restart the engine from memory but forgot to check the position of the fuel valve controls. When he referred to the emergency plate, he realised this omission but felt that he did not have time to attempt a re-start given the height.
The pilot did not transmit a distress message, activate the emergency locator transmitter or display the emergency code on the transponder. The emergency services were alerted by a witness to the accident.