Aeronca 7BC N2805E

Summary

On 29 January 2009 at about 23:00 local time, a Aeronca 7BC registered N2805E, operated by AeroDynamic Aviation, was involved in an accident near Half Moon Bay, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 January 2009 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Half Moon Bay, California, United States

Coordinates

37.5183, -122.6833

Aircraft

Aeronca 7BC

Registration

N2805E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

AeroDynamic Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Jose → San Jose

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09CA103

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to perform an accurate visual fuel quantity check prior to initiating the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While returning from an island sightseeing flight about 25 miles into the Pacific Ocean, the pilot of the rented vintage airplane heard what he thought was a change in engine sound. About five minutes later, while cruising at about 2,400 rpm, with oil pressure and oil temperature indicating normal, the engine suddenly stopped producing power. Although the wood propeller continued to windmill until the airplane was slowed to about 60 miles per hour, the pilot could not get the engine restarted and ultimately ditched in the ocean. The duration of the flight was 1.6 hours and the pilot reported that the 13-gallon fuel tank appeared full prior to engine start. A subsequent records review revealed that the airplane had been flown for .6 of an hour on the previous day, and had not subsequently been refueled. According to the certified flight instructor, who checked the pilot out in the airplane, the pilot was informed that due to its limited fuel quantity, when fully fueled, the airplane needed to be back at the airport two hours after departure. The total time logged since the last refueling was 2.2 hours, and the flight to the island included an outbound climb to about 5,000 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.