Malfunctioning fuel tank sump drain results in fuel spill during preflight of C425.

Attributes
ACN	730362
Time
Date	200703
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : lns.airport
State Reference	PA
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Corsair
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	ground : preflight
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : instrument pilot : multi engine pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 20 flight time total : 1900 flight time type : 400
ASRS Report	730362
Person 2
Function	maintenance : technician
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Aircraft Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

Conducting preflight inspection. Sumped 4 drains on left wing without incident. Sumped 1 drain on right wing without incident. Upon draining 5TH sump location; drain 'stuck' open. I could not get drain to shut off. Tank contained approximately 600 pounds of jeta. Attempted to mitigate fuel loss and environmental impact with buckets and absorbent materials. Discussed operation of drain with mechanic post incident and now have a better working knowledge of the drain plug operation. Carry phillips head screwdriver to fix next time.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MALFUNCTIONING FUEL TANK SUMP DRAIN RESULTS IN FUEL SPILL DURING PREFLT OF C425.

Narrative: CONDUCTING PREFLT INSPECTION. SUMPED 4 DRAINS ON L WING WITHOUT INCIDENT. SUMPED 1 DRAIN ON R WING WITHOUT INCIDENT. UPON DRAINING 5TH SUMP LOCATION; DRAIN 'STUCK' OPEN. I COULD NOT GET DRAIN TO SHUT OFF. TANK CONTAINED APPROX 600 LBS OF JETA. ATTEMPTED TO MITIGATE FUEL LOSS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT WITH BUCKETS AND ABSORBENT MATERIALS. DISCUSSED OP OF DRAIN WITH MECH POST INCIDENT AND NOW HAVE A BETTER WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF THE DRAIN PLUG OP. CARRY PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWDRIVER TO FIX NEXT TIME.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.