Piper J5A N270JS

Summary

On 1 December 2002 at about 16:00 local time, a Piper J5A registered N270JS, operated by James R. Babcock, was involved in an accident near Soldotna, Alaska, United States. One person was 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

1 December 2002 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Soldotna, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Soldotna (SXQ)

Coordinates

60.4761, -151.0325

Aircraft

Piper J5A

Registration

N270JS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James R. Babcock

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Soldotna → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC03LA016

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to remove all water from the airplane's fuel supply during the preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight departed on runway 07, and the pilot started a right climbing turn when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot applied carburetor heat, and checked the position of the fuel tank selector, but he could not restart the engine. About 200 feet above ground level, he turned toward the runway. The airplane landed hard on the runway, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing struck the runway. There were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The mechanic who recovered the airplane removed more than a pint of water from the right wing fuel sump. The pilot said he fueled the airplane with 87-octane auto gas from 5-gallon cans prior to the flight. He further said he should have strained the fuel through a water trap filter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.