HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 17 1990 Blockage Caused Plane Crash6A, Saturday, February 17, 1990, Vero Beach, Fla., Press -Journal
Sebast*lan
Area
eGrant Wicco-Little Hollywood *Barefoot Bay *Sebastian eFellsmere •Roseland *Vero Lake Estates J
B oci(age Caused P ane Cras i
Sy PATRICIA DiLALLA
Sebastian Bureau Chief
A blockage in the flow of fuel to
the carburetor probably caused
engine failure in a airplane that
crashed Wednesday on Roseland
Road, an air safety investigator for
the National Transporatton Safety
Board said Thursday.
Exactly what caused the block-
age is not yet known and won't be
known until further tests are con-
ducted on the carburetor, Timothy
W. Monville said. Those tests will
take place the week of Feb. 26, he
said.
"We ran the engine and the on'_y
way to keep it running was to
pump the throttle," Monville said.
But only a little fuel was affected
by the pumping, not enough to
keep the engine running, he said.
A visual and cursory inspection
of the engine raised two possibili-
ties for the blockage, Monville said.
Either the float inside the carbu-
retor was stuck in an up position,
which closed off the fuel to the car-
buretor, or a needle valve was
stuck, he said.
"What this means," said Bill
Corcoran, chief training instructor
for Pro-Flite of Vero, the owner of
the plane, "is that this absolves our
maintenance department from re-
sponsibility for anything contrib-
uting to the cause of the loss of
power in the engine."
Monville, however, said he has
Council Wants Runway Closed
By PATRICIA DtLA%LA without providing a guarantee or warranty of
Sebastian Bureau Chief title.
Sebastian City Council will decide at a spe-
cial meeting Wednesday whether to close The deed contains provisions that the airport
Runway 13131 at Sebastian Municipal Airport. would revert to the U.S. government if certain
The runway would remain closed while the conditions are not met.
office of flight standards of the Federal Aviation City Council asked the FAA to conduct a
Adm.nistration conducts a safety study at the safety study at the airport after two air crashes
airport, said City Manager Robb McClary Friday. occurred within an 11-day period.
"We have been in contact with the FAA and
they have reviewed this," McClary said. "It is In the first crash Feb. 3, one pilot was killed
their judgment it would not violate the quit- and the second was seriously injured when their
claim deed." planes collided as they were both attempting to
McClary said he did not know when the study land on Runway 13.
would take place. There were no injuries in the second crash on
When the federal government gave the city Wednesday when a single -engine plane lost
the airport, it turned the property over by quit power near the airport and attempted to land on
claim deed, a legal instrument used to release Runway 13, but was unable to reach it. That
one persons right, title or interest to another plane set down on Roseland Road.
not yet thoroughly examined the
maintenance records for the
engine and cannot say when it was
last overhauled or if it was done
properly.
A carburetor cannot be over-
hauled by a flight school, Monville
said, it has to be done by a repair
facility.
"The only thing they are allowed
to do is drain the carburetor to
check for contaminants and clean
the screen at the inlet," Monville
said.
Three Pro-Flite students were on
board the Piper Warrior II when
the engine lost power three miles
from the Sebastian Municipal Air-
port. Unable to reach an airport
runway, Pilot Christos Nodaras,
22, navigated the plane over a
group of power lines stretched
across Roseland Road, then cross-
ed over two southbound car:
before setting the plane down i i
front of the River's Edge entrance
A stop sign at the subdivision's en
trance sheared off the plane's righ,'
wing. No one was injured in tl,
mishap.