PIPER PA28 — Fort Myers, FL

What happened

The private pilot and passenger were departing on a cross-country flight. Shortly after takeoff, the engine experienced a partial loss of power and the airplane would not climb. The pilot chose to perform a forced landing to a road, during which the airplane impacted a building, then the ground; a postimpact fire ensued.

The airplane was operated by a flying club. On two separate occasions before the accident, two different pilots experienced a loss of engine power in the accident airplane. About 1 month before the accident, a pilot experienced a partial loss of engine power shortly after takeoff; he subsequently landed the airplane on the remaining runway. Following that incident, a maintenance inspection revealed no anomalies. Maintenance personnel flushed both right and left fuel tanks, installed new fuel cap seals, drained the carburetor fuel bowl, cleaned and inspected the fuel filter, and flushed the fuel lines. A subsequent test run of the engine revealed no anomalies. Another pilot reported that, about 2 weeks before the accident, while in cruise flight at 8,000 ft, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot was able to restart the engine at an altitude of 3,000 ft and uneventfully performed a precautionary landing. A subsequent maintenance inspection did not reveal any anomalies.

Postaccident examination of the engine did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. Continuity of the crankshaft and camshaft were observed during manual rotation of the engine and the interiors of each cylinder revealed no anomalies. However, postimpact fire damage precluded a thorough examination of the ignition, fuel, and induction systems, and the reason for the partial loss of engine power could not be determined based on the available information.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.