Accident Briefs: November 2016

The private pilot reported that he conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane and noted that both fuel tanks were full. The pilot then took off for the personal cross-country flight. During approach to landing at the destination airport, the pilot extended the downwind leg due to inbound instrument flight rules traffic. The engine then suddenly lost power, and the pilot conducted a forced landing.

An examination of the wreckage revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies. The fuel tank selector was positioned to the left fuel tank, and the electric fuel pump was in the "off" position. No fuel was found in the left tank. There was no smell of fuel, no evidence of fuel spillage, and the fuel tank did not appear to have been breached. Some fuel, about 2 to 3 inches deep, was found in the right fuel tank. If the pilot had switched the fuel selector from the left to the right fuel tank and turned on the electric fuel pump, the engine would not have been starved of fuel.

Probable Cause: The total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation, which resulted from the pilot's improper fuel management.

1 Fatal

The private pilot taxied out and departed for the personal flight from a private grass runway in an unregistered homebuilt airplane. A witness reported that, when the airplane reached 150 feet above the ground, the engine stopped. The pilot then turned the airplane back toward the runway, and it then dropped and impacted terrain.

The airplane did not have an airworthiness certificate, and no maintenance records were found. Examination of the engine pistons found evidence of scoring, consistent with piston seizure. The accident is consistent with a loss of engine power due to piston seizure and with the pilot subsequently losing airplane control while maneuvering back to the runway.

Probable Cause: The unregistered airplane's loss of engine power due to piston seizure. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's loss of airplane control while maneuvering back to the runway.

1 Minor Injury, 2 Uninjured

The pilot reported that during the initial climb, he leveled off at about 65 feet above the ground and made a right turn to follow a river. After maneuvering down the river for about one minute, the airplane struck uncharted and unmarked power lines that spanned across the entire length of the river. He reported that the impact from the power lines cracked the windscreen and damaged the vertical stabilizer, but aircraft control was not affected and he was able to continue to the destination airport about 3 nautical miles away. The pilot further reported that he never saw the power lines that the airplane impacted, but he did observe larger charted power lines about one mile ahead. The left vertical stabilizer was substantially damaged. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to maneuver at low altitude, which resulted in a collision with power lines and substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer.

1 Uninjured

The pilot reported that during landing, she reduced the power and after rounding out the airplane "ballooned high." She reported that she relaxed the elevator pressure slightly to hold the airplane in a level attitude, and that the airplane "sank fast and bounced back high several times." The propeller struck the runway, the airplane had a total loss of power, and the nosewheel tire flattened. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall.

The pilot verified that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.

The pilot stated that the automated weather observing system was reporting wind conditions as 19 knots, gusting to 24 knots from 210 degrees before she entered the airport's airspace. She additionally stated that the crosswind component was more than 11 knots. Approximately five minutes prior to the accident time, the meteorological terminal aviation routine weather report stated wind conditions as 16 knots, gusting to 26 knots from 220 degrees.

As a safety recommendation, the pilot stated that she "should have prepared to go around anytime the approach was not as stabilized or try to land with a higher indicated airspeed or only two notches of flaps instead." She additionally discussed a "hazardous attitude" regarding the landing, with "macho---I thought I had landed successfully in gusty winds as strong as this before" and with "impulsivity---I really wanted to land as soon as possible."

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain pitch control during the landing, resulting in a porpoise.