Frank Ware VELOCITY TXL N916TC

Summary

On 23 July 2016 at about 13:30 local time, a Frank Ware VELOCITY TXL registered N916TC was involved in an accident near Sebastian, Florida, 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

23 July 2016 at 13:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Sebastian, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Sebastian Municipal Airport (X26)

Coordinates

27.8133, -80.4956

Aircraft

Frank Ware VELOCITY TXL

Registration

N916TC

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sebastian → Sebastian

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA268

Nobody was injured.

The total loss of engine power due to maintenance personnel’s improper setting of the aneroid adjustment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot stated that before departing on the personal flight, the engine did not start on the first attempt; he primed the engine, and then it started immediately. During the takeoff roll, he noted that he used more of the runway than usual. After rotation, the airplane was not climbing, and then the engine lost total power. He did not have time to restart the engine and performed a forced landing to a field, which resulted in substantial damage. An engine test run and an examination of the fuel pump were performed. The examination revealed that the aneroid adjustment within the fuel pump was set for too rich of a mixture. The rich mixture setting caused the engine to run normally until the manifold pressure went above 36 inches of pressure (in excess of the maximum manifold pressure for which the engine was certified); then it would stumble then lose power. After the aneroid adjustment was set for a leaner mixture, the fuel pump operated normally on the test bench without any anomalies. A review of maintenance work orders revealed that the fuel pump was removed, repaired, and reinstalled about 2 months before the accident. Given this information, it is likely that maintenance personnel set the aneroid adjustment too high at that time, which caused the engine to run with an excessively rich mixture, which resulted in a total loss of engine power on climbout.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.