Fk Lightplanes FK9 ELA SW N611SP

Summary

On 4 January 2014 at about 20:30 local time, a Fk Lightplanes FK9 ELA SW registered N611SP was involved in an accident near Canton, Georgia, 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

4 January 2014 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Canton, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Cherokee County (CNI)

Coordinates

34.2308, -84.2953

Aircraft

Fk Lightplanes FK9 ELA SW

Registration

N611SP

Category

Airplane

Year built

2010

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hartwell → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA14LA089

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power during cruise flight due to an overly lean fuel-air mixture, which resulted from an incorrectly installed float chamber vent line and led to a subsequent off-airport landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, while in cruise flight, the engine experienced a partial power loss. The airplane was unable to maintain altitude, so the pilot chose to perform an off-airport landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered a berm, became airborne, and then landed hard. Examination of the engine revealed that the carburetor float chamber vent lines had been incorrectly routed to the air filter. The engine manufacturer's installation manual cautioned that the float chamber vent lines must not be routed into the slipstream or down the firewall because "pressure differences between the intake pressure in the carburetor chambers may lead to engine malfunction due to incorrect fuel supply." Therefore, it is likely that the incorrectly installed vent line resulted in back pressure to the float bowl that exceeded the normal operating range, which would have affected the engine's fuel-air mixture and led to the partial loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.