At 10:16 PST, a Cessna 182Q crashed during takeoff from Fallbrook Community Airpark. The pilot was killed and the passenger was seriously injured. A witness said the pilot taxied from his hangar to the departure end of runway 18 and did not perform a pretakeoff engine run-up or cycle the propeller. The airplane took off and climbed to about 300 feet, at which point the engine quit. The aircraft cleared utility lines that ran along the airport boundary then pitched forward, impacting the ground in a nose-low attitude. Investigators found the fuel selector handle slightly displaced from the both position and the fuel boost pump switch in the off position. Fuel was found in the line immediately upstream of the boost pump, however, no fuel was found in the downstream line immediately after the pump. The first witness, who was also an acquaintance of the pilot, said that the pilot was in the habit of turning the fuel selector to the off position when the aircraft was in the hangar. The pilots biennial flight review was four months overdue.
© 2024 Firecrown. All rights reserved.