- Date
- January 21, 1990, 16:05 local (22:05 UTC)
- Place
- Bastrop, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3712XAero Commander 100-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900121000809A
- Case key
- 23094
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
Loss of engine power due to water contamination in the fuel. A factor related to the accident was: inadequate design of the fuel system drains, which prevented an adequate preflight of the fuel system.
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
During a preflt, the plt drained the fuel sys/sediment bowl under the eng compartment until no water came out. He noted 'quite a lot' of water had drained fm the fuel sys. There were no fuel drains under the wings. The plt then refueled the acft, redrained the fuel sys & fnd no more water. During the initial climb after takeoff, at abt 150' AGL, the eng lost power. The plt was able to land on the arpt, but not on the rwy. During the landing roll, the acft struck 3 steel poles that were part of an old building. A post-acdnt fuel sample from the acft contained 1 inch of water & 3 inches of fuel. A sample of fuel fm the storage tank contained no water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3712X
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 100-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5014
- Airframe hours
- 1,184
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A2F, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Young, Jessie
- Registered owner
- Young, Jessie
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 2F8
- Destination
- 2F8
- Airport
- 2F8 · Memorial, runway 34, 4,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 148 total · 137 in this make and model · 50 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.