The investigation into a plane crash that killed a father and son at a Huntsville airport on September 6, 2023 continues. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, pilot Ethan Bishop, 20, and his father, co-pilot Elijah Bishop, 43, both of Montgomery were on board a Cessna 150K departing Huntsville before they were killed in the crash. According to preliminary information provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Cessna 150K took off from North Houston Regional Airport in Conroe, Texas, at approximately 10:27 a.m. The report says the aircraft followed a northeast trajectory for about six nautical miles before changing course to the northwest, heading and arriving at the Huntsville Municipal Airport around 10:50 a.m.
The aircraft went through a series of traffic patterns consistent with touch-and-go landings before the accident around 11:28 a.m. Eyewitnesses and flight instructors on the ground reported a sudden decrease in engine RPM before the aircraft initiated a left, nose-down turn, resulting in a spin and a crash. “The flight instructor believed that the pilot of the accident airplane was attempting to make a left 180° turn to land on runway 36. He stated that after the airplane turned about 90° it entered a spin and descended to the ground in a nose down pitch attitude,” the report says. Investigators say a preliminary examination of the engine and other key components did not reveal any irregularities however, examinations of the fuel system did uncover debris, possibly affecting fuel flow.
“Examination of the left- and right-wing metal fuel tanks exhibited hydraulic deformation along the forward and top tank surfaces. The left and right fuel tank finger screen strainers were unobstructed. The fuel lines from each wing fuel tank to the fuel shutoff valve assembly remained intact. The fuel lines from each wing fuel tank combined through a Y-shaped fuel fitting upstream of the fuel shutoff valve, as depicted in figure 2. The fuel line from the fuel shutoff valve assembly to the fuel strainer assembly was impact separated about 2 inches forward of the fuel shutoff valve assembly. The fuel strainer assembly was displaced aft through the firewall into the cockpit floor area. The filter bowl was separated from the fuel strainer assembly and was impact damaged. The fuel strainer screen filter remained attached to the fuel strainer and exhibited debris. The fuel line from the fuel strainer assembly to the carburetor was separated and not observed.”
NTSB Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report
The fuel line from each wing fuel tank was disconnected and air blown through the fuel line to the disconnected line at the fuel shutoff valve. Fuel and traces of debris was extracted from the left and right fuel lines. The recovered debris was similar to the debris found in the inlet/outlet ports of the fuel shutoff valve, as shown in figures 5a and 5b. A borescope examination of the left- and right-wing fuel tanks revealed additional loose debris inside each fuel tank.
The fuel shutoff valve and the recovered debris from the fuel lines were retained for additional laboratory examination.”
NTSB Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report
