Aero Commander 100-180 N3733X

Summary

On 2 March 2018 at about 22:25 local time, a Aero Commander 100-180 registered N3733X was involved in an accident near Deport, Texas, United States. One person was 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

2 March 2018 at 22:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Deport, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.5200, -95.3378

Aircraft

Aero Commander 100-180

Registration

N3733X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Paris → Paris

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18LA113

1 person had minor injuries.

A total loss of engine power due to water contamination of the fuel system. Contributing to the accident was the pilot/owner's inadequate maintenance of the fuel caps.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that the airplane had been parked outside and exposed to an extended period of rainfall in the days leading to the accident. On the day before the accident, the pilot drained nearly 2 gallons of water from the fuel system before he saw clean, blue fuel. He subsequently repositioned the airplane on the ramp to see if he could get more water out of the tanks and installed new gaskets for the fuel caps. On the day of the accident, the pilot sumped the fuel system and found a small amount of water during the first check but reported that it was clear on the second check. During the pre-takeoff engine run-up, the airplane operated normally, and the pilot chose to depart. About 25 minutes after takeoff, the pilot executed a steep turn about 500 ft above ground level. About 1 minute after leveling off, the engine sputtered once and experienced a total loss of power. His attempt to restart the engine was unsuccessful. The pilot performed a forced landing to a field but was unable to stop the airplane before hitting trees during the landing roll. He reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation before the loss of engine power. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right wing was separated from the airframe and contained no fuel. The left wing was about 1/2 full, but the fuel was not sampled. The fuel filler neck and cap showed large amounts of rust, indicative of inadequate maintenance of the fuel caps, which would have allowed water to enter the neck and tanks. It is likely that precipitation entered the fuel system around the poorly-maintained fuel filler and cap, which resulted in water contamination of the fuel, and that there was water remaining in the system even after the pilot drained large amounts of water before the flight, which resulted in the subsequent loss of engine power.   

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.