Bellanca 17-30A N678MJ

Summary

On 30 December 2023 at about 20:15 local time, a Bellanca 17-30A registered N678MJ, operated by Piasa LLC, was involved in an accident near Washington, Missouri, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 December 2023 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Washington, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Washington Regional (FYG)

Coordinates

38.5876, -90.9938

Aircraft

Bellanca 17-30A

Registration

N678MJ

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Piasa LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Washington → Washington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA077

1 person was seriously injured.

Fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power due to an obstructed fuel vapor return path. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadvertent aerodynamic stall/spin, which likely increased the severity of the ground impact.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the engine start, run-up, and takeoff were without incident. However, shortly after takeoff, the engine completely lost power. In his efforts to avoid trees in the glide path, the airplane inadvertently entered an aerodynamic stall and spin. He was able to recover from the spin but unable to arrest the descent before impacting an open field. The airplane came to rest upright with damage to the fuselage, left wing, and empennage. The pilot reported that about three weeks before the accident a similar loss of engine power event occurred after takeoff. In that instance, he was able to land in the level grass area short of the runway without any damage to the airplane. A mechanic examined the airplane and noted that the diffuser was missing from the muffler. A postrecovery examination did not reveal any anomalies with the engine assembly. However, testing and disassembly of the fuel pump identified a piece of debris within the vapor ejector cavity. Further analysis determined that the material was a rubber fragment from a fuel line. The examination did not observe any indication that diffusers were installed in either the left or right mufflers. The fuel line fragment present in the pump likely traveled into a position in which it blocked the vapor return. This blockage then routed any fuel vapor into the fuel inlet line to the engine and resulted in an interruption of fuel flow due to vapor lock. The airplane maintenance records did not reveal a record of any recent work on the fuel pump or fuel lines. The investigation was unable to determine how the rubber fuel line fragment was introduced into the fuel system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.