- Date
- July 11, 1992, 16:26 local (20:26 UTC)
- Place
- Ortonville, MI
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6617VBellanca 17-30A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920711024829A
- Case key
- 15492
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
Improper use of the fuel tank selector switch and inadequate emergency procedures by the pilot in command.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot of the accident airplane had just canceled an IFR clearance and was descending in VFR conditions when he lost engine power at approximately 1200 feet AGL. He declared an emergency to ATC and unsuccessfully tried to restart the engine. He gave up the restart attempts and remembers thinking; 'I've got to stop playing with it and land this thing.' He remembers turning the main fuel switch off just before the airplane struck the treetops. An after accident examination of the wreckage disclosed no mechanical defects in the airframe. No mechanical defects were noted in the engine that would have caused an inflight stoppage. Examination of the fuel system showed the main fuel switch off and the secondary auxiliary fuel tank selector switch selected to an empty auxiliary tank. Fuel was present in all of the main fuel tanks and the other auxiliary tank.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6617V
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30271
- Airframe hours
- 1,159
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Loft Air Inc.
- Registered owner
- Loft Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 28, 1991 · 123 hours before
- Departed
- HTL · Houghton Lake, MI
- Destination
- PTK · Pontiac, MI
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
- 68
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,120 total · 560 in this make and model · 6,120 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 14 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FNT, 17 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.