Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA N469JA

Summary

On 4 April 2024 at about 19:37 local time, a Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA registered N469JA, operated by Jet Access Group, Inc., was involved in an accident near Seffner, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 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

4 April 2024 at 19:37

Classification

Accident

Location

Seffner, Florida, United States

Coordinates

27.9680, -82.2862

Aircraft

Evektor-Aerotechnik A S HARMONY LSA

Registration

N469JA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2023

Engines

1

Operator

Jet Access Group, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tampa → Fort Myers

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA163

1 person was seriously injured.

The improper installation of the fuel line that connected the fuel pump to the four-way distributor, which resulted in fuel starvation when the line became disconnected.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was on the final leg of a flight to reposition it to its home base. This was the fourth flight since the airplane had been reassembled after it was manufactured, disassembled, and shipped. The pilot reported a normal takeoff, and during the initial climb the airplane performed normally. Upon reaching 2,200 ft mean sea level (msl), the airplane lost all engine power. The pilot turned back toward the airport and attempted to restart the engine multiple times without success. At 800 ft msl, the pilot deployed the whole airplane parachute system. The airplane descended under the parachute canopy until it impacted a tree, became inverted, and impacted the ground. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and both wings. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel line going from the electrical fuel pump outlet to the four-way distributor was disconnected at the four-way distributor and was leaking fuel. The factory-installed clamp remained attached to the disconnected fuel line and was observed to be further down the fuel line than the other fuel lines that remained attached to the four-way distributor. If the fuel line was seated properly, the clamp would have only been at the last ridge on the fitting. After examining the fuel line, the line was reinstalled onto the four-way distributor, and a new clamp was installed. An engine test run was performed, and the engine operated normally at all rpm settings except for idle, which was to be expected due to the propeller blades having been shortened to facilitate the test run. Except for the disconnected fuel line, no anomalies or mechanical failures were found with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation of the engine. Given this information, it is likely that during the climb the fuel line slipped off the four-way distributor valve and starved the engine of fuel. This is consistent with, and a likely result of, the fuel line and clamp being installed too low on the four-way distributor valve fitting, which resulted in the line being able to slide off the fitting during engine operation. There were no logbook entries documenting that the fuel line or the four-way distributor valve had been adjusted or reinstalled since the airplane was manufactured; however, there were minor differences between the condition of the fuel system as found after the accident vs. the condition of the system as documented by pre-delivery photographs taken by the airframe manufacturer. Given the lack of maintenance documentation, it could not be determined when any maintenance, modification, or other alterations of the fuel system could have occurred between when the airplane was manufactured and the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.