14 Feb 2011: BELLANCA 14-19-2

14 Feb 2011: BELLANCA 14-19-2 (N7655B) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Hueco Tanks, TX, United States

Probable cause

The loss of engine power for reasons undetermined.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On February 14, 2011, approximately 0945 central standard time, a Bellanca 14-19-2, N7655B, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Hueco Tanks, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot was not injured. The cross country flight departed Lubbock, Texas, approximately 0745 and was en route to El Paso, Texas.

According to the accident report form submitted by the pilot, while in cruise flight, he observed a low fuel pressure indication and subsequently the engine lost power. The pilot utilized the wobble pump and switched fuel tanks in attempt to restore power without success. During the forced landing both main landing gear separated from the fuselage and the left and right wings were bent.

The airplane wreckage was retrieved and a post accident engine run was conducted. The engine was run on the airframe utilizing an external fuel source attached to the left side fuel system. A replacement propeller was installed and the carburetor airbox was removed. The engine started without hesitation and was eventually accelerated to a maximum rpm of 2,650. Below 1,200 rpm the number six cylinder would not produce power. The source of this anomaly could not be established. During the engine run, both the engine driven fuel pump and wobble pump provided sufficient fuel pressure to run the engine.

A check of the forward fuel selector disclosed that the selector appeared jammed and would not rotate; the rear fuel selector rotated freely. A compression test after the engine run revealed compression results of 76/80, 68/80, 74/80, 74/80, 76/80, and 78/80 for the number one through six cylinders respectively.

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 070/07kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.