Bellanca 8KCAB N5027F

Summary

On 3 March 1997 at about 22:38 local time, a Bellanca 8KCAB registered N5027F, operated by Scandanavian Flight Academy, was involved in an accident near Alpine, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 March 1997 at 22:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Alpine, California, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Bellanca 8KCAB

Registration

N5027F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Scandanavian Flight Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97LA117

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation caused by an obstruction in the fuel vapor return system. An additional causal finding is the failure of maintenance personnel to properly troubleshoot a discrepancy with the fuel system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilots were conducting flight instructor training and practicing power on and power off aerodynamic stalls of the airplane. After performing a spin recovery during an uncoordinated stall, the engine lost power. The pilots were unable to get the engine restarted and forced landed the airplane on a road with a 90-degree turn. The airplane ground looped and struck a fence when the left wheel went into the soft shoulder while exiting the 90-degree turn. The engine had been recently overhauled during which time the airframe was stored. There were two previous occasions where the airplane's engine quit after the engine was reinstalled in the airframe. On the first occasion maintenance personnel increased the idle rpm, and on the second occasion they replaced the fuel servo, which had recently been overhauled with the engine. The engine was run on the airframe after the accident. There was no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction found with the engine. Particle contamination was found in the fuel in the header tank. The inverted fuel vent was found to be over 50 percent obstructed at an elbow fitting with a solid material that covered the inlet. During the examination, another particle fell out of the elbow. The shape of the particle conformed to the shape of the unobstructed portion of the elbow inlet and the edge of the obstruction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.