Czech Sport SPORT CRUISER N802PS

Summary

On 22 April 2020 at about 17:10 local time, a Czech Sport SPORT CRUISER registered N802PS, operated by Platinum AViation, was involved in an accident near Logan, Utah, United States. One person was 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

22 April 2020 at 17:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Logan, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Logan-Cache (LGU)

Coordinates

41.7917, -111.8517

Aircraft

Czech Sport SPORT CRUISER

Registration

N802PS

Category

Airplane

Year built

2010

Engines

1

Operator

Platinum AViation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Logan → Salt Lake City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20LA145

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power during takeoff due to vapor lock.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was making his second solo cross-country flight. He completed the first leg and shut down the engine. When he restarted the engine to begin the next leg of the flight, it momentarily lost power during the magneto check, and he shut it down. After consulting his flight instructor by cell phone, he again started the engine, but the electric fuel pump sounded much louder than usual, so he shut the engine down. On the third engine start, the electric fuel pump remained louder than normal, and he noticed that the fuel pressure was fluctuating. The fuel pressure recovered to 3.5 pounds per square inch (psi), and he completed a normal engine run-up. Shortly thereafter, the pilot departed. As the airplane reached about 50 to 100 ft above ground level, the engine surged, and he noticed that the fuel pressure had decreased to 1.0 psi. He retarded the throttle to land. The airplane touched down hard and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. After the accident, the engine was started and run for several minutes multiple times with no anomalies noted. Testing of the electric fuel pump revealed that it made a loud noise when air passed through it; therefore, the noise heard by the pilot during the engine starts was likely due to air in the fuel system. The accident airplane did not have a fuel bypass around the electric fuel pump, which the engine manufacture’s installation instructions warn is a necessary safeguard. Examination of onboard engine monitoring data revealed that during the climb, the fuel pressure suddenly decreased to 1.1 psi, and the fuel flow simultaneously reached 9.8 gallons per hour. The fuel flow continued to oscillate indicating that the fuel flow to the engine was experiencing intermittent interruptions consistent with fuel vaporizing in the fuel lines (vapor lock).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.