Cessna 152 N6585L

Summary

On 15 October 2020 at about 23:15 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N6585L was involved in an accident near South Hill, Washington, 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

15 October 2020 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

South Hill, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Pierce County Airport - Thun F (PLU)

Coordinates

47.1131, -122.2915

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N6585L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Puyallup → Auburn

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA015

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to ensure that the fuel supply had been completely drained of water, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power during takeoff due to water contamination.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot purchased the airplane 8 days before the accident via an online auction. The airplane was parked outside, partially covered, for several years before the purchase. The pilot said that he worked on the airplane to facilitate an engine run, which included draining the fuel from wing fuel tanks and the airframe fuel filter, during which he observed water in the fuel. The pilot continued to sump the fuel tanks and airframe fuel filter until no more water was present and conducted multiple engine runs with no issues noted.  The day of the accident, he decided to relocate the airplane. Following an uneventful engine run-up, as the airplane climbed through about 250 ft above ground level during takeoff, the engine lost partial power. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a nearby parking lot, during which the airplane impacted an unoccupied parked vehicle, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. Postaccident examination revealed that the right-wing fuel tank contained water. The left-wing fuel tank was empty; however, there was evidence of a fuel leak due to impact damage. Examination of the engine revealed that the No. 2 cylinder bottom spark plug exhibited foreign object debris within the electrode area. Based on the available information, it is most likely that the pilot failed to completely drain the tanks of water, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power during takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.