N714UY

Substantial
None

CESSNA 152S/N: 15279454

Accident Details

Date
Thursday, July 20, 2017
NTSB Number
ERA17LA254
Location
Tamarac, FL
Event ID
20170721X75805
Coordinates
26.228332, -80.308609
Aircraft Damage
Substantial
Highest Injury
None
Fatalities
0
Serious Injuries
0
Minor Injuries
0
Uninjured
2
Total Aboard
2

Probable Cause and Findings

The flight instructor's failure to ensure that the airplane's fuel system was free of water contamination before departing, which resulted in a total loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing.

Aircraft Information

Registration
N714UY
Make
CESSNA
Serial Number
15279454
Engine Type
Reciprocating
Year Built
1977
Model / ICAO
152C152
Aircraft Type
Fixed Wing Single Engine
No. of Engines
1

Registered Owner (Historical)

Name
STONE TO GLASS LLC
Address
3430 GULFSTREAM RD
Status
Deregistered
City
LAKE WORTH
State / Zip Code
FL 33461-2816
Country
United States

Analysis

On July 20, 2017, about 1950 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N714UY, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Tamarac, Florida. The flight instructor and a student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local, instructional flight. The airplane was owned by Stone to Glass LLC, and operated by Airplanes 4 Rent, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.According to the flight instructor, she planned to take the student pilot flying for his last dual instruction flight before his first solo flight. The student pilot performed the preflight inspection of the airplane and she observed him as he "sump[ed]" the left fuel tank four times to get all the water out of the tank. After the last sample, she observed no water. She did not observe the right fuel tank being sumped, however, she asked the student pilot what he found and he stated there was "a little water" in the right tank. She then performed her own preflight inspection and found no anomalies.

The student pilot taxied to runway 9, performed the engine run-up, with no anomalies noted, and departed. They stayed in the traffic pattern to perform three touch-and-go landings. Afterwards, they departed the controlled airspace and flew to a practice area about 15 miles away. She asked the student pilot to perform some clearing turns, which he did, then she asked him to perform a steep turn to the right. During the steep turn, the engine lost total power, the student leveled the wings and the engine power was restored. The flight instructor then decided to return to the airport immediately and land. The engine produced full power while on the return flight, until they were about 10 miles from the airport when the engine again lost total power and the pilots realized they could not make it back to the airport.

The flight instructor looked for a place to land and noticed a levy with a small access road on top. She also noticed that both sides of the levy sloped downwards. She landed the airplane on the levy, it then veered to the left down the slope, struck foliage, and flipped over. She quickly turned off the master switch and magnetos, and both the flight instructor and student pilot egressed through the windows.

Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane came to rest inverted, on top of sawgrass with the cabin partially submerged in water. Fuel samples taken from the belly drain and gascolator revealed

significant amounts of water in the fuel drained from both drain ports.

Data Source

Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# ERA17LA254