Piper PA-28-140 N32435

Summary

On 2 September 2024 at about 20:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N32435 was involved in an accident near East Troy, Wisconsin, 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

2 September 2024 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

East Troy, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

East Troy Muni (57C)

Coordinates

42.7972, -88.3726

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N32435

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

East Troy → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA337

Nobody was injured.

The pilot/mechanic’s improper torquing of the fuel hose fitting while replacing the fuel pump, which allowed air to enter the fuel system and resulted in a loss of engine power during initial climb. Contributing to the accident was the pilot/mechanic’s failure to detect and rectify the loose fuel hose during a subsequent annual inspection.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had flown the airplane for about an hour to practice maneuvers and then returned to the airport where he made an uneventful landing. He then taxied back to the runway for another takeoff. During the initial climb, the pilot noticed that the fuel pressure reading was dropping, but there was insufficient runway remaining to abort the takeoff. As the climb continued, the fuel pressure varied between 0 and 4 pounds per square inch (psi) and the engine surged. The pilot leveled the airplane and verified that the auxiliary electric fuel pump was on. Unable to maintain altitude, he performed a forced landing in a cornfield. The airplane incurred substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and the engine mount. Postaccident examination revealed that the fuel hose fitting to the suction side of the mechanical fuel pump was loose and falling off. After tightening the fitting, an engine test run was performed. (No test run was performed with the fuel hose loose.) A full-throttle engine run could not be performed due to impact-related damage to the propeller blades. However, no anomalies were detected in the engine speed range that could be achieved. The pilot, who was also a mechanic with an inspection authorization, had replaced a leaking mechanical fuel pump 16 days before the accident and had performed an annual inspection of the airplane 9 days before the accident. It is likely that the pilot/mechanic improperly torqued the fuel hose fitting during installation of the replacement fuel pump, which allowed air to enter the fuel system and resulted in a loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.