Bellanca 17-30A N80SV

Summary

On 27 April 2012 at about 17:32 local time, a Bellanca 17-30A registered N80SV, operated by Wimmer Curt, was involved in an accident near Cloverdale, California, 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

27 April 2012 at 17:32

Classification

Accident

Location

Cloverdale, California, United States

Nearest airport

Cloverdale Municipal Airport (O60)

Coordinates

38.7722, -122.9886

Aircraft

Bellanca 17-30A

Registration

N80SV

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wimmer Curt

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cloverdale → Palo Alto

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12LA185

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power during climb due to fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the initial climb, about 2,000 feet above the ground, he switched to the auxiliary fuel tank and the engine lost power. He applied full throttle and mixture, as well as established a glideslope to return to the airport. The airplane descended faster than the pilot expected and impacted terrain short of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The right, left, and auxiliary fuel tanks were all about a quarter full. The airplane flight manual states that the fuel selector valve should be on the main tank containing the most fuel during takeoff and landing. The auxiliary tank should only be used in level flight. During a climb, with the auxiliary fuel tank about one-quarter full, it is likely that fuel within the tank was insufficient to exit the tank through the fuel feed and therefore starved the engine of fuel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.