Piper PA-28R-180 N3898T

Summary

On 12 January 2013 at about 20:00 local time, a Piper PA-28R-180 registered N3898T, operated by Flight School of Gwinnett, was involved in an accident near Winder, Georgia, United States. 3 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

12 January 2013 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Winder, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Barrow County (WDR)

Coordinates

33.9828, -83.6675

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-180

Registration

N3898T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Flight School of Gwinnett

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrenceville → Winder

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA110

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power due to a cracked fuel pump line fitting O-ring seal at the inlet to the enginedriven fuel pump. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the aircraft operator to comply with the engine manufacturer’s recommended time interval for overhaul.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in the airport traffic pattern, the airplane’s engine lost all power. Subsequently, the flight instructor attempted to glide to a runway. The airplane touched down on the runway but was not aligned and traveled off the right side into a bog. Following the accident, the engine was started, but it only ran for about 10 seconds and then lost all power again. Further examination revealed that, when the engine ran briefly, fuel leaked from the inlet side of the engine-driven fuel pump due to a cracked fuel pump line fitting O-ring seal. The airplane's most recent annual inspection had been completed about 2 months before the accident. At that time, the engine had accumulated about 1,578 hours since its last overhaul about 16 years before the accident, which exceeded the engine manufacturer’s recommended time interval for overhaul of every 2,000 hours or 12 years, whichever came first. The airplane had been operated for about 15 hours since its most recent annual inspection; however, a cracked O-ring seal might not be detected during an annual inspection if the engine was not leaking fuel at that time.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.