- Date
- November 30, 2011, 11:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Fredericksburg, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6735QCessna 305A
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 28, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20111130028499A
- Case key
- 82433
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a subsequent loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
While on approach to the runway, the pilot added power to the engine to adjust the approach path, and the engine did not respond. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, and he performed a forced landing to a nearby field. During the landing, the airplane struck a wire and then the ground. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that caps were present on the fuel tank vent lines, creating a vacuum and preventing fuel flow to the engine. The pilot said that he had placed the caps on the fuel vent lines to keep insects out of the lines and the fuel tanks and forgot to remove them during his preflight inspection. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunction or failure of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
On November 30, 2011, approximately 1115 central standard time, a Cessna 305A, N6735Q, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Gillespie County Airport (T82), Fredericksburg, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot was not injured. The flight departed New Braunfels, Texas, approximately 1030. While on approach to the runway the pilot added power to the engine to adjust his approach path and the engine did not respond. The pilot was unable to restart the engine and set up for a forced landing to a nearby field. During the forced landing, the airplane struck a wire and then the ground. The right main landing gear was bent, the firewall was wrinkled, and the fuselage adjacent to the right wing strut was buckled. Examination of the airplane revealed that caps were present on the fuel tank vent lines. When the caps were removed, pressure release and air movement could be heard from the tanks. The fuel tanks contained an adequate supply of fuel. No other mechanical anomalies, malfunctions, or failures were noted which would have contributed to the accident. The pilot reported that he had placed the caps on the fuel vent lines to keep insects out of the lines and the fuel tanks and forgot to remove them during his preflight inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6735Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 305A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22658
- Airframe hours
- 7,100
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental Motors O-47-11, 213 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 20, 2011
- Departed
- KBAZ · New Braunfels, TX
- Destination
- T82 · Fredericksburg, TX
- Airport
- T82 · Gillespie County Airport
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 25, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,678 total · 381 in this make and model · 2,588 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- KT82
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 2, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N6735Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.