Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salisbury, Massachusetts 01952
Sunday, October 20, 2002 14:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and observed water in the fuel system. The pilot drained the fuel system and allowed the engine to operate for "well over 15 minutes," prior to takeoff. The airplane departed uneventfully; however, later in the flight, while maneuvering, it experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine and performed a forced landing to a marsh area. Examination of the airplane and engine, which included draining fuel samples from both wing fuel tanks, the gascolator and the carburetor, revealed significant amounts of water contamination throughout the airplane's fuel system. The undersides of both the right and left wing fuel caps exhibited evidence of corrosion. The right wing fuel cap seal was severely worn and cracked. The airplane was parked outside for over a week and a check of weather observations reported for the area during the two week period prior to the accident, revealed several observations which included precipitation. The airplane had been operated for about 15 hours since it's most recent annual inspection, which was performed about 2 months prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel contamination. Factors in this accident were the corroded fuel tanks caps, and an inadequate annual inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Salisbury |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01952 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425004N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0704946W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1454 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LWM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 148 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14088 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 20 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N47147 |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA010 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15283179 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 3553 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Manuel Encarnacion |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Methuen |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01844 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BVY |
| Departure City | BEVERLY |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LWM |
| Destination City | LAWRENCE |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2003 2:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |