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NTSB Identification: WPR13LA009
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, October 13, 2012 in Corona, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/31/2013
Aircraft: PIPER PA-38-112, registration: N4309E
Injuries: 1 Minor.
NTSB investigators may have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
After flying for about 1 hour, the pilot prepared the airplane for the landing approach. As he entered the downwind leg of the approach, the engine lost all power. Unable to restart the engine, the pilot performed a forced landing into an adjacent field, where the airplane sustained substantial damage.
A wasp was found in the carburetor fuel bowl, and a wasp head was located wedged within the inner sleeve of the carburetor metering valve. The head was adjacent to the fuel channel hole, blockage of which would have resulted in a loss of fuel flow to the engine and subsequent loss of engine power. Both fuel tank vent ports were also found completely blocked with mud that was likely deposited by the wasp. However, the blocked fuel tank vent ports were unlikely to cause fuel starvation because fuel was present in all the supply lines and the fuel tanks were equipped with venting fuel caps, which were operational.
The only path for a wasp-sized insect to access the carburetor fuel bowl was via the atmospheric bowl vent, the opening of which was located at the carburetor's air inlet. The vent leads directly to the fuel bowl and is wide enough for a wasp to pass through. The wasp most likely accessed the vent through either a hole in the air induction system, a gap in the carburetor-heat door seal, or through the carburetor-heat door opening (assuming the door had not been fully closed on the ground).
It is not known when the wasp entered the fuel system. The airplane’s last annual inspection was performed about 2 1/2 years prior to the accident; however, it is unlikely the wasp would have been discovered during an annual inspection because the carburetor is not an inspection item. The insect would also be difficult to detect during preflight inspection.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
Total loss of engine power during the landing approach due to insect debris in the carburetor metering valve, which resulted in fuel starvation.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On October 13, 2012, about 1215 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-38-112, N4309E, collided with terrain following a loss of engine power during landing at Corona Municipal Airport, Corona, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The local flight departed Corona about 1115. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported that during the landing approach he performed his pre-landing checks, and that shortly after turning on the auxiliary fuel pump, the engine lost all power. He performed troubleshooting procedures, with no increase in engine power. The airplane was on the left downwind leg of runway 07, and the pilot was concerned that he did not have enough altitude to turn towards the runway; he elected to land the airplane in a field directly ahead. During the approach, the right wing struck a tree, and the airplane descended underneath a power line, striking the airport perimeter fence and coming to rest in a field.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, firewall, and tailcone during the accident sequence.
AIRPLANE INFORMATION
The low-wing, single-engine airplane, was manufactured in 1978, and equipped with a Lycoming O-235-L2C engine, serial number L-16453-15. Maintenance records indicated that the engine was overhauled and installed on the airplane in 2004. At the time of the most recent annual inspection, dated March 3, 2010, the engine had accrued a total flight time of 115 hours since overhaul. At that time, the airframe had accrued 2,021 flight hours. The engine tachometer indicated 2,075.06 hours at the accident site.
The pilot reported that he kept the airplane stored at an outdoor tie-down spot at Corona Airport.
TESTS AND RESEARCH
Fuel Supply System
Aircraft recovery personnel reported draining about 2 gallons of fuel from the left tank during the recovery operation. The right tank was breached, and a 6-foot-long by 2-foot-wide stain was present on the ground surrounding the tank. During the subsequent airframe examination by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator, an additional 2 gallons of fuel was observed in the left tank.
The fuel lines from the tanks to the carburetor inlet were full with fuel and free of obstruction. The gascolator bowl was full of light-colored fluid consistent in color and odor with aviation gasoline, and its filter screen was free of debris. The fuel selector valve was observed in the right tank position. The valve could be moved through its detents by hand, but crumpled airframe structure had become impinged against the selector shaft, preventing smooth operation of the handle. The electrically driven fuel pump issued fuel when engaged.
Examination of the wing tank vent ports, located underneath each wing, revealed that they were completely plugged by a mud-like substance. The ports were removed, and the obstruction appeared consistent with Mud Dauber (wasp) debris. The fuel tank filler caps were of the vented type. Examination revealed that the vent flapper valve was intact, and that the vent opened appropriately with the application of low air vacuum.
Carburetor
The Precision Airmotive Carburetor, model MA-3A, remained undamaged, and firmly attached to the intake manifold. The fuel mixture, throttle, and carburetor heat linkages were intact and continuous to their respective cabin controls, and moved smoothly when operated. The airbox and filter assembly sustained crush damage. Although the forward surface of the filter element was coated in a wax-like substance, the filter was able to pass air when blown. The fuel inlet screen was free of debris.
The carburetor was removed and opened for examination. The bowl was about half full with clear, blue-colored fuel. The float was of the brass type, and appeared intact and free of leaks. The float valve was intact, pliable, and along with the valve seat, free of contamination.
A wasp-like insect was at the bottom of the bowl, adjacent to the bowl drain plug and mixture metering sleeve. Further examination of the metering valve revealed the head of a wasp-like insect wedged within the valves inner sleeve. The position of the head was adjacent to the fuel channel hole in the carburetor body.
The design of the carburetor bowl allows for two direct paths to atmospheric pressure. The first is the drain plug, which, when removed, allows fuel to be drained through two, 3/32-inch-wide drain channels. The second path is that of the atmospheric bowl vent. The opening for this vent is 1/4-inch-wide, and located at the carburetor air inlet, adjacent to the throttle flange, and upstream of the fuel nozzle outlet. The vent channel continues through the carburetor body, and into the roof of the fuel bowl, where it reduces in size to a 3/16-inch orifice.
Carburetor induction air enters a chin scoop intake in the lower airbox cowling, and flows directly through the filter, and into the carburetor airbox. The airbox incorporates a positive shut off (door) heat intake, so that when carburetor heat was selected, unfiltered induction air was drawn through a hose attached to a muffler shroud.
Engine
The engine sustained minimal damage during the accident sequence, and post impact examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA009
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, October 13, 2012 in Corona, CA
Aircraft: PIPER PA-38-112, registration: N4309E
Injuries: 1 Minor.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On October 13, 2012, about 1215 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-38-112, N4309E, collided with terrain following a loss of engine power during landing at Corona Municipal Airport, Corona, California. The pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The certificated commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The local flight departed Corona about 1115. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported that during the landing approach he performed his pre-landing checks, and that shortly after turning on the auxiliary fuel pump, the engine lost all power. He performed troubleshooting procedures, with no increase in engine power. The airplane was on the left downwind leg of runway 07, and the pilot was concerned that he did not have enough altitude to turn towards the runway; he elected to land the airplane in a field directly ahead. During the approach, the right wing struck a tree, and the airplane descended underneath a power line, striking the airport perimeter fence and coming to rest in a field.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, firewall, and tailcone during the accident sequence.
A small plane crashed near a little league field across from Corona Municipal Airport on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012.
A Corona man escaped with what were initially believed to be minor injuries when his small plane crashed at Corona Municipal Airport early Saturday afternoon, Oct. 13, a police lieutenant said.
Corona resident Alan Sinman, 49, was coming in for a landing about 12:11 p.m. when his single-engine Piper Tomahawk lost power and clipped some trees at the southern edge of the airport before coming down in a field just short of the runway, Corona police Lt. Neil Reynolds said. Though the plane suffered major damage, Sinman was taken to a Riverside hospital with complaints of pain to his neck and chest, Reynolds said.
No one else was reported injured.
Sinman had flown in from John Wayne airport in Orange County. The plane also appeared to have hit a fence before coming to rest on airport property near the north side of Butterfield Driver, witness Jackson Shaw said.
Corona Municipal Airport supervisor Mike Word believes that Sinman handled the crash well.
“He’s a good pilot who spends quite a few hours in his plane,” he said. “I talked to him afterward, and he said he was okay.”
The plane had been towed away by 2 p.m. to a storage site. The National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and planned to take over the crash investigation, Reynolds said.
The Piper Tomahawk has a wingspan of 34 feet and can comfortably seat two people, according to pipertomahawk.com, a website for the plane’s enthusiasts.
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CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- A pilot is lucky to be alive after his light plane crashed near a little league field across from Corona Municipal Airport.
Airport officials say the plane was en route from John Wayne Airport when it lost power.
Witnesses say the plane was very low when it flew over the Corona Butterfield Park Baseball Field where several games were going on. It clipped some tree branches, began to cartwheel, crashed near the edge of the park and skidded across the street.
The pilot, identified as 49-year-old Alan Sinman of Corona, was taken to the hospital. There was no word on his condition.
