ERA10FA150 · Beech C23
Tailwheels Etc Beech C23 · Accident: loss of engine power (total) during initial climb
From Winter Haven Regional Airport - Gilbert Field (GIF) to Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA10FA150
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Beech C23
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 23
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N180ED
- Operator
- Tailwheels ETC
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Winter Haven Regional Airport - Gilbert Field (GIF), Winter Haven, FLTo Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL), Lakeland, FL
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of engine power (total)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
During the initial climb after takeoff, the engine lost power, and the airplane stalled and impacted the ground. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The fuel selector was observed in the off range after the accident and immediate postaccident testing of the selector valve revealed no mechanical anomalies. While the pilot’s cockpit actions pertaining to the fuel selector valve following the loss of engine power could not be determined, the lack of a preimpact mechanical failure of the engine or its systems, and the lack of an issue related to fuel quality are consistent with the fuel selector valve being in the off range for takeoff. Inspection and operational testing of the fuel selector valve was reportedly performed as required during the last annual and 100-Hour inspections; however, no guidance was given to maintenance personnel on how to perform the operational shutdown test. Different interpretations of what constituted proper engine shutdown was noted by the mechanics that performed the last annual and 100-Hour inspections. The mechanic who performed the last 100-Hour inspection approximately 6 months prior to the accident failed to detect that the fuel selector valve guard and stop did not contain required markings which clearly depict the off range for the pilot.
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper placement of the fuel selector valve during takeoff, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed following a total loss of engine power resulting in an inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the failure of maintenance personnel to detect the lack of proper markings on the fuel selector stop and fuel selector valve shroud at the last 100-Hour inspection.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA10FA150
- Event ID
- 20100225X05540
- Case number
- ERA10FA150
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 5184c4055f04c3e4ef04407383989915a5710d7ecf2f2500bc5a687312985d20; retrieved 2026-09-13T20:40:01.517Z.