Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA28 near Vero Beach, FL — 2018-05-07

Final reportERA18LA145
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Date
2018-05-07
Location
Vero Beach, FL, USA
Airport
VRB
Aircraft
PIPER PA28
Registration
N80813
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

Water contamination of the fuel supply, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot were conducting an instructional flight. As the student turned the airplane from the base leg to the final leg of the traffic pattern, the engine lost total power, so the instructor assumed control of the airplane. He attempted remedial actions to no avail, so he chose to conduct a forced landing to a railroad bed before the approach end of the runway. The airplane landed hard, which resulted in the right main landing gear and nose landing gear separating from the airplane. Fuel drained from the airplane during recovery contained large quantities of water. After recovery, a fresh source of fuel was plumbed into the fuel system, and the engine started and ran smoothly. Given that the engine was successfully test-run with fresh fuel after the accident, it is likely that the loss of engine power was due to water contamination of the fuel supply.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Engine power loss
First missed decision gate
Instructor could have aborted the approach earlier due to engine issues.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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