Tecnam P2002 SIERRA N308TA

Summary

On 30 June 2012 at about 20:00 local time, a Tecnam P2002 SIERRA registered N308TA, operated by Ocean Air Flying Services, was involved in an accident near Watsonville, California, United States. 2 people were 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

30 June 2012 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Watsonville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI)

Coordinates

36.9494, -121.7192

Aircraft

Tecnam P2002 SIERRA

Registration

N308TA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2009

Engines

1

Operator

Ocean Air Flying Services

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Watsonville → Watsonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12LA281

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power during initial climb due to the blockage of the carburetor’s main jet by deteriorated float material. Contributing to the accident was an inadequate maintenance inspection by maintenance personnel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the initial climb, the airplane's engine started to vibrate violently and lost significant power. The flight instructor performed an emergency descent and landing to an open field. Postaccident examination of the engine's dual carburetors found that 30 to 50 percent of the No. 2 main carburetor's left main carburetor jet was blocked by foreign material. The float inside the carburetor float chamber showed signs of flaking on the corner edges; the material was consistent with that found in the carburetor jet. Engine test runs conducted with the main jet reduced to about 50 percent of its original size revealed that the blockage resulted in the partial loss of engine power, indicating that the accident engine's power loss directly resulted from the blockage of the left carburetor's main jet. Manufacturer Service Instruction 912-021 states that the engine's carburetors are to be removed and inspected every 200 hours due to several carburetors previously being found with contamination in the float chamber. The instruction warns that such contamination could possibly cause a partial or complete blockage of the idle or main jet or other ducts vital for operation and lead to poor performance or stoppage of the engine. Maintenance records revealed that the required 200-hour carburetor removal and inspection had been completed 2 days before the accident. During the inspection, maintenance personnel should have seen and replaced the visibly deteriorated carburetor float, removed the carburetor main jet, and blown air through the jet channels with compressed air to ensure that the passage was clear, which most likely would have prevented the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.