ERA17LA254

According to the flight instructor, the student pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane before their training flight, and she observed him sample fuel from the left fuel tank four times to get water out of the tank. After the last sample, she observed no water. She did not observe fuel from the right fuel tank being sampled; however, the student pilot told her there was "a little water" in the right tank. She then performed her own preflight inspection and found no anomalies. They departed with the student pilot flying. During the first steep turn to the right, the engine lost total power; the student pilot leveled the wings, and engine power was restored. The flight instructor decided to return to the airport immediately. During the return flight, the engine lost total power again. The flight instructor performed a forced landing to a levy, during which the airplane flipped over and sustained substantial damage. Postaccident fuel samples taken from the lower fuselage drain and gascolator were contaminated with significant amounts of water. It is likely that this water contamination in the fuel resulted in the total loss of engine power.

On July 20, 2017, about 1950 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N714UY, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Tamarac, Florida. The flight instructor and a student pilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local, instructional flight. The airplane was owned by Stone to Glass LLC, and operated by Airplanes 4 Rent, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.According to the flight instructor, she planned to take the student pilot flying for his last dual instruction flight before his first solo flight. The student pilot performed the preflight inspection of the airplane and she observed him as he "sump[ed]" the left fuel tank four times to get all the water out of the tank. After the last sample, she observed no water. She did not observe the right fuel tank being sumped, however, she asked the student pilot what he found and he stated there was "a little water" in the right tank. She then performed her own preflight inspection and found no anomalies. The student pilot taxied to runway 9, performed the engine run-up, with no anomalies noted, and departed. They stayed in the traffic pattern to perform three touch-and-go landings. Afterwards, they departed the controlled airspace and flew to a practice area about 15 miles away. She asked the student pilot to perform some clearing turns, which he did, then she asked him to perform a steep turn to the right. During the steep turn, the engine lost total power, the student leveled the wings and the engine power was restored. The flight instructor then decided to return to the airport immediately and land. The engine produced full power while on the return flight, until they were about 10 miles from the airport when the engine again lost total power and the pilots realized they could not make it back to the airport. The flight instructor looked for a place to land and noticed a levy with a small access road on top. She also noticed that both sides of the levy sloped downwards. She landed the airplane on the levy, it then veered to the left down the slope, struck foliage, and flipped over. She quickly turned off the master switch and magnetos, and both the flight instructor and student pilot egressed through the windows. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane came to rest inverted, on top of sawgrass with the cabin partially submerged in water. Fuel samples taken from the belly drain and gascolator revealed significant amounts of water in the fuel drained from both drain ports.