N294ABPiper PA-34-220T · 1981

On July 7, 2018, at 0920 central daylight time, a Piper PA-34-220T, N294AB, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to wooded terrain near Jack Edwards Airport (JKA), Gulf Shores, Alabama. The private pilot and four passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was privately owned and operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight which departed Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT), Lafayette, Louisiana and was destined for JKA.In a written statement, the pilot provided a detailed description of his preflight inspection, his performance of weight and balance calculations, and his loading of the airplane with golf clubs, baggage, and the passengers. The pilot visually checked for the presence of fuel, but did not measure the fuel in the tanks, and neither did he service them with additional fuel. He noted no anomalies and estimated that there were 30 gallons of fuel "per side prior to departure according to the fuel gauges."

The pilot reported no anomalies with the performance and handling of the airplane in his description of the flight until landing. Upon landing, the airplane began to "porpoise or oscillate," and after the third or fourth bounce, the pilot aborted the landing.

The pilot said that he pushed the throttle, propeller, and mixture levers "full forward" and retracted the landing gear when a positive rate of climb was established. Immediately after, the left engine "appeared" to lose power and was "surging." The airplane yawed to its left, and the right engine continued to operate "normally." The pilot attempted to restore left engine power by placing the auxiliary fuel pump switch to "high" and selecting "crossfeed" on the left fuel selector.

The left engine stopped producing power, the stall horn sounded, and the controls "started to buffet." The pilot said he had "no time" to consult the checklist, considered multiple forced landing areas, and eventually chose to land straight ahead into trees. The airplane came to rest upright with substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane. He reported 335 total hours of flight experience, of which 65 were in multiengine airplanes, and 33 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.

At 1415, the weather recorded at JKA included scattered clouds at 2,100 ft and calm wind. The temperature was 28°C, and the dew point was 23°C. The altimeter setting was 30.08 inches of mercury.

According to the an aircraft recovery specialist who recovered the airplane, an odor of fuel was detected at the site, but no fuel drained from either wing when each was separated from the airframe. No fuel-spillage remediation was required at the site after recovery of the airplane.

Data downloaded from the onboard JPI 760 engine data monitor revealed a profile consistent with the engine power surging and power loss on the left engine as described by the pilot.

The engines were examined in Mobile, Alabama, at the manufacturer's facility. The propeller was removed from the right engine due to impact damage. A club propeller was installed, and the engine was placed in a test cell. The engine started immediately, accelerated smoothly, and ran continuously without interruption. The engine was run through the manufacturer's test protocol with no anomalies noted.

A test run on the left engine was not performed due to separation of the propeller flange by impact. The engine was rotated by hand through the propeller governor drive pad, and continuity was established through the powertrain and valve train to the accessory section. Compression on each cylinder was confirmed using the thumb method. Internal engine timing was confirmed through index alignment on the camshaft and crankshaft gears. Magneto timing was confirmed using an electronic magneto synchronizer.

The components of the fuel system were bench-tested, and the demonstrated flow rates were within ranges necessary to sustain normal engine operation. Flow rates outside the nominal bench-test ranges were affected by airframe-specific, on-airframe adjustments.

The left and right magnetos were bench-tested and produced spark at all terminal leads. The No. 5 bottom terminal lead on the left magneto sparked at a cut in the lead consistent with impact damage.

Neither engine displayed any preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation.

Interpolation of performance charts at the maximum allowable gross takeoff weight and atmospheric conditions consistent with those at the time of the accident revealed that the airplane's single-engine rate of climb was 280 ft per minute.