Piper PA-30 N8734Y

Summary

On 23 August 2010 at about 17:20 local time, a Piper PA-30 registered N8734Y, operated by Thomas B Newman, was involved in an accident near Douglas, Georgia, 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

23 August 2010 at 17:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Douglas, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Douglas Municipal (DQH)

Coordinates

31.4767, -82.8606

Aircraft

Piper PA-30

Registration

N8734Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Thomas B Newman

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Douglas → Douglas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10LA438

1 person was seriously injured.

A loss of engine power during takeoff due to fuel contamination. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and inadequate maintenance of the fuel system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane had been parked outside and not flown for about 1 year, except for a test flight conducted about 1 month prior to the accident. During a preflight inspection, the pilot observed water in the airplane's main fuel tanks, and debris in the right wingtip fuel tank. A series of engine ground run-ups and maintenance was conducted prior to the pilot attempting a test-flight. The airplane subsequently experienced a rough running left engine during the takeoff and impacted trees. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed the presence of water and corrosion in the fuel distribution system. Water was observed in both of the main fuel tank strainers and the left engine fuel injector. In addition, fuel drained from the airplane by recovery personnel contained water and unidentified debris. An annual inspection was performed on the airplane about 6 weeks prior to the accident, and additional maintenance was performed, which included flushing the fuel tanks and cleaning the fuel lines to each respective flow divider after the left engine "missed" during the test flight conducted about 1 month prior. The pilot had only accumulated about 22 hours of multiengine flight experience and lacked experience in the make and model of the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.