Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVO N319TA

Summary

On 18 August 2017 at about 15:00 local time, a Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVO registered N319TA, operated by New Kent Flight Center LLC, was involved in an accident near Quinton, Virginia, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, 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 August 2017 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Quinton, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

New Kent County (W96)

Coordinates

37.4972, -77.1492

Aircraft

Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVO

Registration

N319TA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

New Kent Flight Center LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Quinton → Quinton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA280

1 person died.

The flight instructor and commercial pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in water contamination of the fuel supply, and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and commercial pilot were conducting an instructional familiarization flight in the light sport airplane; this was the commercial pilots first flight in the airplane under instruction. According to the commercial pilot, they checked the weather and performed a preflight inspection using the checklists. Both fuel tanks were checked and were indicating 1/2 full on the left and slightly more than 1/2 full on the right and no anomalies were noted during the inspection. After departure, they performed several touch-and-go takeoffs and landings and the airplane performed normally but shortly after last takeoff and a climbing left turn to crosswind at 600 ft mean sea level, the engine lost all power and the propeller stopped turning. The instructor took control of the airplane and unsuccessfully attempted a restart; during the restart attempt, the propeller did not move. He performed a forced landing to a field during which the airplane impacted two fences, resulting in the fatal injury to the instructor. Examination of the engine and its components revealed water in the fuel filter, gascolator, fuel pump, and in both carburetors. Additionally, the fuel drained from the right wing tank contained water. Although the No. 2 cylinder bore and piston face exhibited a significant amount of lead build-up, it is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of the extensive water contamination of the fuel system, which should have been detected during the pilots preflight inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.