Beechcraft 23 N3555R

Summary

On 10 September 2019 at about 17:20 local time, a Beechcraft 23 registered N3555R was involved in an accident near Panama City, 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

10 September 2019 at 17:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Panama City, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Northwest Florida Beaches Intl (ECP)

Coordinates

30.3583, -85.7956

Aircraft

Beechcraft 23

Registration

N3555R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Panama City → Panama City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA19TA276

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power due to an obstructed fuel vent, and the flight instructor's failure to ensure that the student did an adequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After returning from a roundtrip, cross-country flight, the student pilot and flight instructor were conducting airport pattern work, go-arounds, and touch-and-go landings. After a normal go-around due to excessive crosswinds, they initiated a no-flap landing for the next attempt. As the student pilot established the airplane on short final, he attempted to arrest the airplane’s descent by increasing engine power, but the engine did not respond. The instructor told the student pilot to “push it back in to add power,” and the student pilot pulled and pushed the throttle several times to try to increase engine power. After several unsuccessful attempts to increase engine power, the instructor took control of the airplane and attempted a forced landing. The airplane touched down short of the runway, bounced hard, and struck the landing lights before landing back on the runway. The airplane’s airframe sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed an obstructed right trailing edge fuel vent line that likely blocked venting of the fuel tank and resulted a negative pressure within the tank, whichsubsequently starved the engine of fuel and resulted a total loss of engine power. The airplane's flight manual specified that during a preflight inspection, the fuel vent line should be checked for any obstructions, but the flight instructor did not witness the student pilot conduct the preflight inspection of the airplane. It is likely that the student pilot did not detect the blocked vent line during the preflight inspection; had more direct supervision been provided by the flight instructor during the preflight inspection, the blockage would have been discovered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.