NTSB’s Report Points to Bad Fuel as Cause of Plane Crash That Killed New Kent Flight Instructor

Two and a half years after New Kent Flight School instructor Andrew Jones died in a plane crash at a horse pasture more than a mile away from the New Kent County Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board has released a factual report which indicates the crash was caused by contaminated fuel.

Andrew Jones, 38, died in the Aug. 18, 2017, crash as he taught a 67-year-old commercial pilot how to perform “touch and goes,” repeated landings and take-offs at the airport, in a two-seat single-propeller Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam P2004 Bravo airplane, according to the report released on Feb. 11.

The unidentified 67-year-old man survived the crash with minor injuries and told investigators that he was flying about 600 feet above sea level after performing three “touch and goes” when the engine cut out. Jones took control, but couldn’t restart the engine about a mile away from the airport.

The weather the day of the crash was clear with 10 miles of visibility, warm at 82.4 degrees and there was a slight breeze of about 6 miles per hour.

With no options, Jones tried to land in a horse pasture that was bound by two 5-foot tall fences, according to the report. Jones hit a wooden fence in the pasture before the plane touched down and it ripped off one of the landing gears. The plane skidded for 200 feet and hit a second fence before it stopped on a gravel road.

The plane was substantially damaged: the engine, wings, left wing fuel tank, fuselage and cockpit were mangled by the fence, according to the report.

Spark plugs in three of the engine’s four cylinders were fouled in a way that normally occurs when an engine runs cold and fuel rich. When investigators removed and drained the fuel pump, they discovered it was full of water. Carburetors, devices used to mix air and fuel before it is pulled into an engine, attached to the engine had water inside them.

Fuel drained from the right wing tank was also contaminated with water, the report stated.

Jones had 4,800 hours of flying experience and his student had 6,300 hours of experience, nearly all in the military, according to the report. Jones was properly licensed and had a medical certificate at the time of the crash.

The plane’s digital avionics system did not record any data related to the crash, the report stated.

Steve Roberts Jr, [email protected], 757-604-1329, @SPRobertsJr on Twitter

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