Cessna 150H N22562

Summary

On 16 January 2005 at about 17:55 local time, a Cessna 150H registered N22562, operated by Rison Aviation, was involved in an accident near Pauma Valley, California, 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

16 January 2005 at 17:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Pauma Valley, California, United States

Coordinates

33.3001, -116.9210

Aircraft

Cessna 150H

Registration

N22562

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Rison Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Cajon → Hemet

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA070

1 person had minor injuries.

the loss of engine power due to an undetermined obstruction in the vent system for the fuel tanks and failure of the fuel caps to vent.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with trees during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The student pilot stated that during cruise flight at 6,500 feet mean sea level, the engine began sputtering and finally ceased operating altogether 30 seconds later. During the descent for a forced landing, the pilot attempted to restart the engine four times. While setting up to land on an airstrip, the pilot performed 360-degree turns to lose altitude. After coming out of the second turn, the airplane was too low to make the airstrip so the pilot landed the airplane in an orchard. The airplane had 1/2 tank of fuel in the left wing and the right wing fuel tank was full. Airplane recovery personnel at the accident site drained approximately 2 gallons of fuel from the airplane when they observed the fuel flow to stop coming from the drain. Upon removing the fuel caps, the drain stream returned to full flow. Post accident test-run of the engine did not reveal any operational anomalies. The fuel vent line that extends from the bottom of the left fuel tank and the cross vent line between the right and left fuel tanks were tested using air flow; neither line was obstructed. The fuel caps were tested on a Cessna fuel tank and a vacuum suction was applied; neither fuel cap vented. Examination of the fuel caps did not reveal why they did not vent. The fuel caps provide secondary venting; if the fuel vent line also becomes plugged, no fuel venting is possible. The airplane was recovered a few days following the accident and moved to a storage facility over unimproved dirt roads where the engine test-run and vent system examination took place. Any obstruction in the vent system could have been dislodged during the recovery and transport of the wreckage. According to the operator, the fuel cap and wing vents were checked during the last 100-hour inspection on the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.