>  ... part of the proper pre-flight inspection is before first
> flight of the day, or after refueling, to drain a small amount of fuel
> into a transparent cup, and check the color, presence of debris or
> water.

I saw a light aircraft with 4 people aboard climb off a seaside
airstrip over trees and then start behaving "very unusually". Turned
out to have had engine trouble due to water in fuel. Banked hard to
try to return to strip but didn't have enough height and instead
descended into the harbour beyond. Injuries but nobody killed.

Verdict was water in the fuel due AFAIR to leakage into a storage drum
from an improperly sealed lid. Would be interesting to know how much
checking was done, what level of checking would have saved him and how
the fuel drum leakage was able to happen at all.

Pauanui rule 4.4 probably is based on that incident - " ... turn early
after takeoff and WEAR life preservers ..."
( http://bit.ly/PauanuiAirstrip )


      Russell
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