Cessna 152 N94185

Summary

On 10 August 2012 at about 17:10 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N94185, operated by DuBois Aviation, was involved in an accident near Eastvale, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 August 2012 at 17:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Eastvale, California, United States

Nearest airport

Chino Airport (CNO)

Coordinates

33.9375, -117.5708

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N94185

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

DuBois Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chino → Chino

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA350

Nobody was injured.

The failure of both pilots to ensure that no water was present in the fuel, which resulted in a complete loss of engine power and a forced off-field landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight instructor, he was providing a check-out flight to the private pilot for the Cessna 152. The private pilot reported draining several ounces of water from the right wing fuel sump and gascolator during the preflight inspection and notified the instructor. The instructor requested additional fuel, and while they waited for the fuel truck to arrive, they continued to drain water from both wing tanks; the instructor estimated that they drained six or seven tubes of water from both wings. The airplane was refueled, and they waited about 10 minutes before sumping the fuel tanks again; they then sampled a couple of ounces of fuel from the right tank, which contained some water. They did not detect any additional water when they resampled the left fuel sump and gascolator. Both pilots reported that the engine run-up and takeoff were normal. They flew to the practice area and performed a series of maneuvers before returning to the departure airport for landing. The private pilot stated that about 3 miles southeast of the airport, the engine lost all power. The instructor then took the flight controls, trimmed the airplane for best glide, and continued toward the airport. Several attempts were made to restart the engine, and an emergency was declared to tower personnel. The instructor then landed the airplane in front of two fences; however, after landing the airplane impacted the second fence before nosing over and coming to rest inverted. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, upon arrival at the accident site, noted that both wing fuel tanks had been compromised but that the wing fuel lines contained water. When a sample was taken from the gascolator, the FAA inspector reported that it contained 25 percent water. After a fuel source was supplied, the engine started and the power was manipulated through several cycles with no mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.