Cessna 185 N720

Summary

On 9 August 2007 at about 01:27 local time, a Cessna 185 registered N720 was involved in an accident near Bethel, 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

9 August 2007 at 01:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Bethel, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 185

Registration

N720

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bethel → Bethel

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC07LA077

Nobody was injured.

The improper [reversed] installation of the fuel selector handle by maintenance personnel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was repositioning a float-equipped airplane to its mooring site after a 100-hour inspection. About 2 minutes after departure, the pilot reported a loss of engine power, and selected a small pond as a forced landing site. After touchdown on the pond, the airplane collided with the shoreline and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, right wing lift strut, empennage, and fuselage. A postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector handle had been inadvertently reinstalled incorrectly during the recent 100-hour inspection, and when the fuel tank selector handle was placed in the "Both" position, it actually turned the fuel supply off. Investigation revealed slight wear to the keyed cog of the fuel selector valve handle (female receptacle), as well as slight wear to the fuel selector valve connection point (male receptacle). The combined wear patterns of both the fuel selector valve handle and the fuel selector valve connection point allowed the installation of the fuel selector handle 180 degrees from its correct position. When a new fuel selector valve handle was fitted onto the valve connection point, it could only be installed in the correct position, and not 180 degrees from the correct installation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.