Improper fuel management is the probable cause of 2014 Alabaster Bellanca 17-30A plane crash

 

Posted: August 07, 2015

 

The NTSB has concluded that a pilot's "improper fuel management.. resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation."  The plane crashed January 1, 2014, in a backyard in the Thompson Plantation Neighborhood.

The  Bellanca 17-30A plane was headed from the Bessemer Airport to the Shelby County Airport.  According to the NTSB report, the pilot "he engine began to “stumble” and run roughly. The pilot activated the fuel boost pump, but, shortly thereafter, the engine experienced a total loss of power."  

He was able to maneuver the plane toward a row of trees and crashed in a backyard. 

 The owners were not at home at the time.  The pilot, however, suffered only minor injuries.

"Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right main fuel tank contained about 10.5 gallons of fuel," the report reads. "About 0.5 gallon of fuel was drained from the left main fuel tank. The auxiliary fuel tank contained no fuel, and the gascolator was absent of fuel.  The engine-driven fuel pump line and return fuel line were absent of fuel."

The engine also showed nothing out of the ordinary and also started up on the first attempt during the examination. 

"Although the airplane’s fuel selector was found set to the right main tank position during postaccident examination, based on the lack of fuel in the fuel lines and gascolator, it is likely that it was set to the left main or the auxiliary fuel tank during the flight and moved to the right main tank position just before or after impact."

Date:	01-JAN-2014
Time:	14:20 LT
Type:	Bellanca 17-30A
Owner/operator:	private
Registration:	N351AE
C/n / msn:	73-30577
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Airplane damage:	Substantial
Location:	Near Shelby County Airport (KEET), Alabaster, AL -   United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	KEKY
Destination airport:	KEET

Narrative:
The aircraft, a Bellanca, impacted a tree and residential terrain while on approach to Shelby County Airport (KEET), Alabaster, Alabama. The airplane sustained unreported but apparent substantial damage and the sole pilot onboard received minor injuries. Sources: http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2014/01/01/plane-crashes-in-alabaster-neighborhood/
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/24343318/pilot-sustains-minor-injuries-in-alabaster-plane-crash

Pilot sustains minor injuries in Alabaster plane crash

Posted: Jan 01, 2014 5:20 PM EDT Updated: Jan 08, 2014 5:20 PM EDT

By Brianne Britzius

By Sherea Harris

 

 

Authorities at the scene of the crash. Source: Sherea Harris/WBRC

 

 

The plane crashed into a tree before landing on a van in a back yard. Source: Nic Fisher

 

ALABASTER, AL (WBRC) - 

 Authorities say that a pilot has sustained minor injuries after a plane crash in Alabaster.

The Shelby County Airport confirmed the plane had crashed in the 900 block of 10th Street Southwest in Alabaster Wednesday afternoon. Alabaster Police began receiving 9-1-1 calls around 2 p.m.

The plane appears to have clipped a tree before coming to land upside down in the backyard of a home. A van was damaged in the landing. The pilot was taken to UAB to be treated for minor injuries.

Nic Fisher says that he and his mother saw the crash happen and that they ran to the scene before EMS were able to arrive.

"When [the pilot] crashed we ran over there," Fisher said. "And then we had him out...he had a bump on his head."

Other neighbors who spoke with FOX6 News report hearing a loud boom at the time of the crash.

Fisher says that the pilot told him the fuel injector in the plane may have failed though an official cause of the crash is still unknown. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is on the way to the scene to begin their investigation. 

Investigators cleared the scene around 6 p.m. but the wreckage remains in Maddison McBride's backyard.

McBride says it's a blessing she and her family weren't home when the plane landed Wednesday.

"I mean, it's a blessing that everybody's OK. The pilot is OK is what they said. So it's a blessing. It could have been a lot worse," she said.