The student pilot reported that, during the preflight of the Cessna 172, he and the pilot-rated passenger, who was not a flight instructor, inspected the fuel sumps on each wing and the engine, “pulling a sample on each.”
He added that, during departure from the airstrip in England, Arkansas, after they became airborne for about nine seconds, the engine rpm dropped to idle. The propeller was still rotating, but the engine was not producing power.
Subsequently, the plane landed in a cotton field, the nose landing gear sheared off, and the plane came to rest nosed over.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the tail and fuselage.
The student pilot reported that the airplane had gone through a pre-purchase inspection the previous week, and the airplane had accrued little time since the annual, which was seven months before the accident. He added that it seemed like the airplane was starved for fuel.
The FAA inspector reported finding substantial water in the gascolator.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to detect water in the fuel system during the preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power during departure and a subsequent impact with terrain.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA160
This March 2018 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
The fellow had to have poor training from his instructor or did not absorb his training, & was release to fly solo to early.
There is No Excuse for this kind of nonsense !
This is called “Not Being Totally Familiar” with the characteristics of the plane you are flying !!
This fellow should have been “Band For Life” from flying by the FAA, for this kind of “Total Nonsense” !
He could have crashed the plane into a neighborhood of houses & killed several people !
My father & uncle were the second owners of this plane from ’62 to ’68.
I see it has a different & “Goofy Paint Color/Design,” along with the teardrop wheel covers have been
removed.
It lost it’s nice originality, White with Blue Stripping from the factory somewhere along the way through the years unfortunately….
I have a picture, 16’x24′ on a easel in my living room, “For Good Memories,” of flying in that plane with my father. The picture is of my father & I standing in front of this plane, when I was 6 years old, in 1965 …
There have been “Warning Notices” released over the years on early model 100,200, & 300 series
Cessna’s having issues of water entry into the fuel tanks , and how to minimize them, as well as
how & where to drain the system properly….
“What A Dam Shame” !!!!
This comment was for a different plane that went down due to water in the fuel tanks and carburetors….. It’s license number was N8370X. Crashed @ Kissimmee Airport, Kissimmee, FL. in 2015.
It was a Total Loss.
NOT THIS PLANE !!
GRAVITY brought down the aircraft…. Gravity works 24x7x365
Water in the fuel…. that is a human problem
Aircraft obeyed gravity
WATER DID NOT BRING DOWN THE AIRCRAFT
The airspace between the eardrums of the PIC was a contributing factor of why the aircraft did not reach its destination.
GRAVITY brought down the aircraft…. Gravity works 24x7x365
Water in the fuel…. that is a human problem
Aircraft obeyed gravity
WATER DID NOT BRING DOWN THE AIRCRAFT
The airspace between the eardrums of the PIC was a contributing factor of why the aircraft did not reach its destination.
Took delivery of my Cessna 150 after having it flown to my home airport by the son of the IA who did the preflight and then the annual for me. Distance was about 50 miles.
First thing I did was check the tanks, gascolator and belly drain. Collected a full cup from that belly drain.
They never checked it.
I check these four ports every flight now and I’ve never gotten so much as a half a teaspoon of water since.
Here we go again blaming the aircraft instead accepting that a poor pre flight was perfomed
True, although if one gets this much water out of a tank there is something wrong with the airplane. In over 20 years of flying my airplane I’ve never found any water from any of the 3 drains – this is as it should be for every airplane, even those that sit outside. There is no excuse for ever operating and airplane that has leaky fuel tanks.
Can u imagine an pilot looking for water in a airliner that is awfull so everybody could take owns responsabilities
Airliners have sump drains just like any other airplane. And, it’s the pilot’s final responsibility to confirm they were checked.
I was director of maintenance at Hinson Airways, a Baltimore Cessna dealer, during the ’70’s, and we had quite a few 172 aircraft. If the aircraft isn’t sitting tail-low, all water in the tanks can’t be sumped, as the quick drain is inboard and aft in each tank. Too many times I saw students (and others) sump a tank and dump the cup without even looking at it. Same with “peeing” a dribble from the gascolator. One thing I did was to remove the pipe plug on the belly from the selector valve and install a Curtis drain valve. This is the real low-point of the fuel system. It’s really important to properly sump at each point everytime one flies!
It’s unfortunate that neither pilot was able to sufficiently sump the water from the tanks and gascolator.
Then there is the issue of this student pilot having a passenger ….[ he is still a student pilot per the FAA Registry.]
So, this student pilot bought an aircraft and wrecked it , and apparently did not continue to get his pilot certificate.
I had rented a Cessna T41C for a while , that always had water in the tanks. It took 4-5 sumpings after grabbing a wingtip and shaking the aircraft to get the water to move to the one quick drain. Then it also took multiple sumpings of the gascolator to get all the water out of the fuel lines.
The other C172R had 5 quick drains in each tank, which was a pain to drain, but was always easy to get all the water out of the tanks.
Yeah. I’m betting the student didn’t actually do the sumpings but said he did.
Or he “pulled a sample”, saw it was all one color, and assumed it was all fuel when actually it was all water………..
Sounds like you are right on point and FAA Inspectors agree with you also!
Those guy must be really smart!