MIA96LA188

Factual narrative

On July 17, 1996, about 1810 central daylight time, a Cessna 152, N6481L, registered to the United States Air Force, Aero Club, Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, local test flight, crashed in the vicinity of Troy, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed, but not activated. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the airline transport pilot was not injured. The airplane had been grounded in Troy the day before the accident, due to an engine failure on takeoff, and a successful forced landing was made on the runway. The airplane had been refueled at the FBO just before the engine failure. Two Aero Club mechanic, flew to Troy, and examined the airplane. The airplane was checked okay, test flown, but remained at Troy. The next day a pilot was flown into Troy, in another airplane, to retrieve N6481L, and return the airplane to Eglin Air Force Base. According to the pilot's statement, he took a fuel sample from the main sump into a jar. He stated that he "found approximately 2" of water and sediment in the bottom of the sample." The pilot drained the right tank sump, and stated that he "found approximately 1" of water and sediment and 1/4" fuel...." The pilot then waited about 1/2 hour and drained fuel again. This time he stated that he "found the fuel to be all clean." He drained the left wing sump and stated that the first sample "had several small bubbles in the bottom." He then took five or six more samples "with all clean fuel." He took an additional three or four samples from the main sump and "found all clean fuel." The pilot decided to fly in the traffic pattern before departing for Florida, to test the airplane. He taxied to runway 25, performed an engine run up, and found everything "normal." He flew twice around the airport's traffic pattern, was on takeoff, and had attained an altitude of about 200 to 300 feet above the ground (AGL), when the engine lost complete power. According to the pilot, "[the] power loss was nearly immediate (from full power to zero power in 1-2 seconds, i.e. not a sudden loss of power but a very quick wind (sic) down) with no sputtering, surging, etc. It was almost like someone reached in and pulled the mixture to cut off." The pilot elected to land in a small field on the south side of the airport boundary fence. He tried to clear some trees in his flight path, but the airplane struck the trees, in a nose high attitude, nosed over, and came to rest upside down. The airplane's engine was test run on August 14, 1996, at Atlanta Air Salvage's facilities, Griffin, Georgia, under the supervision of the NTSB. The engine ran with no discrepancies above 1500 rpm, up to 2200 rpm. The engine would not idle below 1500 rpm. The carburetor was removed from the engine and examined. The examination revealed water in the bowl, and dirt inside the carburetor. The airplane had been grounded the day before the accident after loss of engine power during takeoff, followed by a successful forced landing on the runway. The airplane had been refueled at the FBO just before the engine lost power. Two mechanics, examined the airplane. The airplane was checked okay, test flown, and remained at the airport overnight. The next day, a pilot arrived to return the airplane to Eglin Air Force Base. The pilot took fuel samples from the main sump, and 'found approximately 2' of water and sediment in the bottom of the sample.' He drained the right tank and stated that he 'found approximately 1' of water and sediment and 1/4' fuel....' He took several more fuel samples, and 'found the fuel to be all clean.' The pilot decided to fly in the traffic pattern before departing for Florida, to test the airplane. He performed an engine run up and found everything 'normal.' He flew twice around the airport traffic pattern, and was on takeoff at an altitude of about 200 to 300 feet above the ground (AGL), when the engine lost complete power. The pilot elected to land in a small field south of the airport, but the airplane struck trees, nosed over, and came to rest upside down. A postaccident test-run of the engine was performed. The engine operated normally above 1500 RPM to 2200 RPM, but it would not idle below 1500 RPM. The carburetor was removed from the engine and examined. The examination revealed water in the bowl, and dirt inside the carburetor. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12