Bellanca 17-30A N93688

Summary

On 9 November 1999 at about 20:00 local time, a Bellanca 17-30A registered N93688, operated by Thomas O'connell, was involved in an accident near Canandaigua, New York, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 November 1999 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Canandaigua, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Canadaigua Airport (D38)

Coordinates

42.8808, -77.2797

Aircraft

Bellanca 17-30A

Registration

N93688

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thomas O'connell

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00LA029

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight which resulted in a loss of power due to fuel contamination. Factors related to the accident were the pilot's non-compliance of an airworthiness directive, failure to perform an annual inspection, and improper modifications of the fuel drain system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the airplane was taking off, the engine quit, and the pilot attempted to land on the remaining runway. The airplane touched down, bounced back into the air, and then floated over a road located at the end of the runway. While in the air a second time, the engine began to develop partial power for a few seconds and quit again. The airplane came to rest in a plowed field. When the airplane was examined, all six wing drain petcocks were disabled. Contamination was observed in the wing tanks, gascolator, fuel lines, fuel distribution manifold, engine driven fuel pump, and fuel filter. Research of the airplane records revealed that AD 87-11-01 R1, which was issued to preclude engine power loss due to either the accumulation of water or other contaminates in the fuel system, was not complied with. Further inspection revealed that the cable and release assembly that drains the gascolator was disassembled, rendering the quick drain inoperative. According to the airplane's logbooks, the most recent annual inspection was completed 23 months prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.