ERA18LA242

Factual narrative

On September 2, 2018, about 0920 eastern daylight time, a Stinson 108, N4059C, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Indiana County Airport (IDI), Indiana, Pennsylvania. The student pilot incurred serious injuries and the flight instructor was incurred minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which originated around 0800. The instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. According to the flight instructor, the student pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane, which included sampling fuel from the fuel tanks, with no anomalies noted. In addition, there was about 12.5 gallons of fuel in each tank, totaling 25 gallons. They departed the airport and used the right fuel tank for the beginning of the flight and switched to the left tank after about 35 minutes of air work outside the airport traffic pattern. They returned to the traffic pattern and performed about 5 landings and used full carburetor heat during each approach. During the initial climb of the last take off, the engine response was "normal" until about 300 ft above ground level. At that time, the engine "abruptly" lost total power. The flight instructor took the flight controls, pitched the airplane to maintain airspeed, and attempted to regain engine power. He turned the airplane toward a clearing, and the airplane struck trees prior to impacting the ground. The airplane came to rest upright in high brush. The forward section of the fuselage was substantially damaged. Initial examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the engine mount was fractured in three places and there were no holes in the crankcase. In addition, crankshaft continuity was confirmed from the propeller hub to the accessory section of the engine. The magnetos produced spark on all towers. A fuel sample was taken from the wings and solid debris was noted in the fuel. In addition, fuel was noted in the gascolator and debris was noted in the sample. Fuel was drained from the wings and debris was noted. The debris was similar to dirt and orange sealant. The carburetor was removed from the engine and disassembled. There was an air filter element lodged in the throat of the carburetor venturi. In addition, there was debris in the fuel inside the carburetor bowl and in the carburetor fuel inlet screen. According to the FAA inspector, the owner had the airplane for about 2 and a half years. In that time, it had flown about 20 hours. Between August 2016 and August 2018, the airplane engine had all new cylinders installed and the wings recovered. The most recent annual inspection was completed on May 24, 2018, at a total time of 2493.8 hours. On the day of the accident the airplane had accumulated 2,498 total hours. In a conversation with the student pilot, he stated that there was no fuel contamination noted from the fuel storage tanks at the airport around the time of the accident. The student pilot and instructor departed on a local instructional flight, completing about 35 minutes of airwork before returning to the airport to practice takeoffs and landings. They performed several landings and used full carburetor heat during each approach. During the initial climb for the last takeoff, the engine response was "normal" until about 300 ft above ground level, when the engine "abruptly" lost total power. The flight instructor took the flight controls, attempted to restore engine power, and turned the airplane toward a clearing, where it impacted trees before impacting the ground. Fuel samples from the wings, gascolator, and carburetor revealed solid debris similar to dirt and orange sealant in all samples. Additionally, an air filter element was found lodged in the carburetor venturi. Because the airplane had flown for a few hours since maintenance was completed and the engine stopped producing power "abruptly," it is likely that the engine was starved of fuel as a result of the debris that migrated through the fuel system, which resulted in the total loss of engine power. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid condition
• — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Not serviced/maintained