Cessna 172 N6636A

Summary

On 18 October 2015 at about 23:12 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6636A, operated by Myalik Gennady, was involved in an accident near Campobello, South Carolina, United States. 3 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 October 2015 at 23:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Campobello, South Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.1347, -82.1136

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6636A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Myalik Gennady

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Landrum → Landrum

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ERA16LA018

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the fuel system, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to water contamination.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that he performed a thorough preflight inspection and observed no contaminants in the fuel. He reported that, during cruise flight on a local sightseeing flight, the engine lost all power. The pilot could not restart the engine, so he performed a forced landing in a nearby field. During the landing roll, the airplane nosed over and then came to rest inverted, which resulted in structural damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. During examination of the fuel system, water was found in the firewall-mounted fuel strainer. The left wing tank was dry; however, there was evidence of postaccident fuel leakage from the tank. The right wing tank was sumped using a standard 6-inch tube-type fuel tester. The tester was filled twice, and it only contained water each time. The tester was filled a third time, and it contained about 3/4 water and 1/4 fuel. Although the pilot reported that he performed a thorough preflight inspection, his inspection was not adequate because he failed to detect the water contamination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.