Bellanca 7ECA N57679

Summary

On 9 September 2023 at about 17:55 local time, a Bellanca 7ECA registered N57679 was involved in an accident near El Cajon, 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

9 September 2023 at 17:55

Classification

Accident

Location

El Cajon, California, United States

Coordinates

32.8262, -116.9724

Aircraft

Bellanca 7ECA

Registration

N57679

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Cajon → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR23LA341

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction were on final approach for landing about 700 ft above ground level (agl) when the engine suddenly lost total power. The flight instructor accomplished a forced landing short of the runway, and the airplane struck two fences, resulting in substantial damage to both wings. The flight instructor and mechanic recovered the airplane to a hangar. The mechanic started the engine uneventfully, ran it briefly at a low power setting, and noted no issues. During a second engine run attempt following additional examination of the airplane, the engine would not operate continuously or at a high power setting. Fuel flow was verified to the engine. The carburetor was removed for examination, and the examination revealed no anomalies with the carburetor. The carburetor was subsequently reattached, another engine run was accomplished, and the engine operated for several minutes at various power settings with no anomalies noted. The investigation identified no evidence of preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal engine operation. It is possible evidence of an anomaly in the carburetor or engine may have existed but was compromised during the first engine run or during the subsequent removal and examination of the carburetor. Although the airplane was operated in conditions that an FAA carburetor icing probability chart identified as conductive to the formation of carburetor icing at glide and cruise power, the conditions did not fall within the “serious icing” region of the chart, and the pilot receiving instruction reported that the carburetor heat was used intermittently during the approach. Based on the available evidence, the investigation was unable to determine the cause of the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.