Aerostar S A YAK 52 N207YK

Summary

On 1 November 1996 at about 20:00 local time, a Aerostar S A YAK 52 registered N207YK, operated by Biggles Aviation, Inc, was involved in an accident near Fullerton, California, 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

1 November 1996 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fullerton, California, United States

Nearest airport

Fullerton Municipal (FUL)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Aerostar S A YAK 52

Registration

N207YK

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Biggles Aviation, Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97LA035

1 person had minor injuries.

loss of engine power due to an undetermined internal carburetor malfunction. A factor relating to the accident was: the directions that were use for reassembly of the aircraft were written only in Russian.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft was a new production airplane, which was manufactured in Romania, then was disassembled and shipped in a crate to the United States. This was the first flight following reassembly of the aircraft. The aircraft had been run on the ground for 50 minutes, and a high speed taxi test had been completed. Shortly after takeoff, a loss of engine power occurred. The pilot landed on the runway, but insufficient runway was remaining to stop before colliding with a building and a fence at the departure end of the runway. The powerplant was a Russian manufactured 9-cylinder radial engine with a pressure carburetor. The pilot said he believed that the carburetor malfunctioned. The aircraft was examined by an FAA airworthiness inspector with the assistance of a Russian factory trained technician. The carburetor was removed from the engine and a used/serviceable one was installed in its place. The engine was then started and exercised through the normal power range with no problem noted. The technician stated that disassembly of the carburetor required special tools available only at the factory. The inspector reported that the directions for disassembling the aircraft were used as a checklist/reference for reassembling the aircraft, and that the directions were written only in Russian. The Russian technician said that '. . . the factory did not do one or two steps on the checklist.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.