Fuel Exhaustion & Starvation · NTSB ERA17LA280
COSTRUZIONI AERONAUTICHE TECNA P2004 BRAVO — Quinton, VA
| Date | August 18, 2017 |
| Location | Quinton, VA |
| Aircraft | COSTRUZIONI AERONAUTICHE TECNA P2004 BRAVO |
| Purpose of flight | Instructional |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Prior to flight Aircraft inspection event |
| Pilot age | 38 |
| Pilot total time | 4,800 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Fuel system-(general)-Inadequate inspection - C
- Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Inadequate inspection - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Instructor/check pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine (reciprocating)-Recip engine power section-Damaged/degraded
What happened
The flight instructor and commercial pilot were conducting an instructional familiarization flight in the light sport airplane; this was the commercial pilots first flight in the airplane under instruction. According to the commercial pilot, they checked the weather and performed a preflight inspection using the checklists. Both fuel tanks were checked and were indicating 1/2 full on the left and slightly more than 1/2 full on the right and no anomalies were noted during the inspection. After departure, they performed several touch-and-go takeoffs and landings and the airplane performed normally but shortly after last takeoff and a climbing left turn to crosswind at 600 ft mean sea level, the engine lost all power and the propeller stopped turning. The instructor took control of the airplane and unsuccessfully attempted a restart; during the restart attempt, the propeller did not move. He performed a forced landing to a field during which the airplane impacted two fences, resulting in the fatal injury to the instructor.
Examination of the engine and its components revealed water in the fuel filter, gascolator, fuel pump, and in both carburetors. Additionally, the fuel drained from the right wing tank contained water. Although the No. 2 cylinder bore and piston face exhibited a significant amount of lead build-up, it is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of the extensive water contamination of the fuel system, which should have been detected during the pilots preflight inspection.