Cessna T182T N14685

Summary

On 27 February 2007 at about 20:06 local time, a Cessna T182T registered N14685, operated by Tim Cuthers, was involved in an accident near Athens, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 2 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

27 February 2007 at 20:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Athens, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.1506, -95.7792

Aircraft

Cessna T182T

Registration

N14685

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tim Cuthers

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aero Estates → Midland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW07LA078

1 person was seriously injured.

The loss of engine power as result of the failure of a mechanic to properly check the torque on the input and output fuel lines to the fuel transducer during the manufacturing process. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The newly manufactured single-engine airplane had a complete loss of engine power and the commercial pilot made a forced landing to a field 3.6 hours after the airplane had been delivered from the factory. During the forced landing, the airplane landed hard, nosed-over and came to rest in the inverted position. Examination of the engine revealed that the input fuel line to the fuel transducer was not properly torqued during the manufacturing process and had loosened to the point where the engine was starved of fuel. The investigation revealed that an unauthorized person was allowed to torque the fuel line to the transducer during the initial build-up of the engine. The Team Leader failed to check the torque on the fuel line fittings; however, he signed the airplane's production inspection report that the fittings were properly torqued. This failure to follow a published procedure resulted in a loss of engine power during the airplane's first production test flight. The test pilot was able to make a successful power-off landing to an airport. As a corrective action, the manufacturer impounded the airplane and determined that the output line to the transducer was loose and weeping fuel. A Lead Inspector, who had been instructed by the manufacturer's Director of Quality Assurance to re-torque all of the fuel lines forward of the firewall, only checked the torque on the output line to the transducer even though he made an entry on the airplane's Flight Squawk/Repair Record that stated, "re-torqued all fuel lines."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.