Cessna 170 N2585V

Summary

On 9 June 2013 at about 13:20 local time, a Cessna 170 registered N2585V, operated by Suttmeier Robert, was involved in an accident near Plainville, Connecticut, United States. One person was 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

9 June 2013 at 13:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Plainville, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Robertson Field (4B8)

Coordinates

41.6869, -72.8586

Aircraft

Cessna 170

Registration

N2585V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Suttmeier Robert

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Meriden → Plainville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA276

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s overflight of the landing runway during a forced landing after a loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight which resulted in his failure to detect water contamination of the fuel system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, as he reduced power, he incrementally increased the flap settings to 10, 20 and 30 degrees on the downwind leg on the west side of the runway. He added that he applied carburetor heat when he increased the flap setting to 20 degrees. At 80 mph, with 30 degrees of flaps extended and before turning to the base leg of the traffic pattern, the engine experienced a total loss of power. During the subsequent forced landing, the airplane flew from west to east across the runway, rather than turning toward the runway, and crashed in marshland on the east side of the runway abeam the numbers. The fuel system was sumped from three points, and each sample contained a significant quantity of water. The fuel system was drained, the airplane was serviced with fresh fuel, and an engine start was initiated. The engine started immediately, accelerated smoothly, and ran continuously without interruption. Examination of the seals around the fuel caps revealed that they were unserviceable, and no longer functioned as designed. Over 3 inches of rain fell between the previous flight and the accident flight and likely entered the fuel tanks through the seals around the fuel caps.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.